Premonitions
by Berry the fangirl
Summary: Edward Elric is having disturbing dreams about murder, but takes no notice. However, an attack on a military base by the terrorist group Trinity is almost identical to one of Ed's dreams. Could Ed's nightmares be more than just dreams?
1. Chapter 1 The First Dream

**I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or any of it's characters and all that jazz. This is my first fan fiction. Reviews very much appreciated :)

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Ed sat glumly behind his desk at Central HQ. Paperwork was nowhere near as interesting as working in the field, and the work never seemed to end. As soon as one pile had finished, Hawkeye would throw another pile on his desk. After three monotonous hours, Ed decided to take a break and annoy Jean Havoc by throwing small scraps of paper at his head. However, he quickly stopped after Hawkeye fired a few warning shots behind him. Grudgingly, he continued to sign the ton of reports to be checked before being passed on to Mustang. Ed didn't feel that there was any point in this. _Maybe they invented a job just to give me something to do, _Ed thought miserably.

Ever since Ed had successfully returned Al to his body and defeated the homunculi, life had become dull. Even though he had only joined the military to bring Al back, he wasn't able to just quit. As Ed had once put it, he had sold his soul to the military and couldn't escape. He thought if he provided no new research he would lose his state alchemist status and be thrown out of the military. However, the new Fuhrer Haruko had decided to let Ed remain a state alchemist as a reward for saving his life on that train years before. So here he was – an 18 year old state alchemist stuck behind a desk doing what Ed considers as Mustang's job.

After what seemed like a lifetime, it finally reached one o'clock. Ed prepared to leave for lunch, when he was stopped by Hawkeye.

"The Colonel wishes to see you," she told him.

"Yeah?" Ed replied, "Well you can tell Colonel Bastard that he can wait till after I've eaten."

"Fullmetal, my office now!" boomed Mustang from behind, causing Ed to jump. This made Mustang smirk. "Hey, you almost reached the height of a normal person there."

"Shut up! I am normal, everyone else is just freakishly tall!" Ed whined, while stomping into Mustang's office. Roy couldn't help but laugh and followed the small blonde alchemist, closing the huge wooden door behind him. Ed threw himself on the leather sofa in the middle of the room while Roy sat behind his desk.

"Please make yourself at home," mumbled Roy sarcastically.

"What'cha want Mustang, 'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry. Anyway, I have a job for you."

"More bloody paperwork?"

"No. Well, not really. You heard about Trinity?"

"You mean those psycho terrorists claiming to be carrying out the will of God and other crazy shit?"

"Yeah. Well they have causing havoc up North, the military are struggling to keep peace. Just yesterday they almost destroyed an entire military base with alchemy."

"Woah!"

"Quite. Well the problem is, the alchemy they are using is something that no one recognises. It seems to be new -"

"Or prehistoric."

"Or that. But this is where you come in Fullmetal. With everything you have encountered and your ability to use alchemy without a circle, I was hoping you could assist us by deciphering these transmutation circles."

"If I agree to help, you better make sure I don't have to touch paperwork for a VERY long time."

Roy sighed. "Fine. So will you help?"

"Yeah sure whatever. Can I see?"

Roy handed Ed photos from the village. As Ed looked at the photos, his eyes widened and his skin went pale. "Holy shit..." he whispered.

"What's wrong?"

"I – I've seen this before. But – that's impossible..."

"Well, what does it mean?"

"I – I don't know..." Ed grew very quiet and stared off into the distance.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Roy seemed confused. "I thought you said you had seen it before?"

"I have seen it, but it doesn't mean I know what it means."

"Well where did you see it?"

"You – you wouldn't believe me."

"Huh? C'mon Elric, have a little faith, I've trusted you when most others wouldn't, like when you told me Fuhrer Bradley was in fact a homunculus? What's going on?"

Ed didn't answer. He looked scared and Roy grew concerned. He got up from behind the desk and moved to sit next to Ed on the couch. "Ed, what is it?"

Ed was surprised that Roy called him by his first name, and he turned to face the man. He saw concern in his superior's eyes and knew he had to say something. "Well, um, this is gonna sound really crazy but... well... I saw it in a dream."

"A dream?"

"Yeah. Well, more a nightmare. I saw these symbols and then a flash of light. There was blood everywhere and I heard terrible screams. I saw bodies... bodies in blue. Military blue. But – it was just a dream. How could it become reality? Dreams aren't real... they can't be..." Ed's voice faded out and he just shook his head, obviously trying to figure out what was going on.

Roy was baffled. "You dreamt about these deaths? When exactly?"

"About a week ago, when I visited Al in Resembool."

"Did you tell anyone about your dream?"

"No, I mean, it's just a dream! I mean if I had known this was going to happen, that it was some sort of premonition I would have said something, honestly! I – I'm sorry I – what the hell is happening?"

"Hey woah calm down Ed, this is probably just a coincidence all right? You've been working hard lately..."

"But the symbols, I have never seen them before –"

"You probably have, you just forgot OK? Don't get yourself worked up about it. It's just a horrible coincidence." Roy smiled in a vague hope of calming Ed.

Ed sighed, "yeah, you're probably right. It just seems like one hell of a coincidence... but yeah that's all it is. I'll start researching these symbols right away."

"Are you sure you're up to it? You can take the rest of the day off and start tomorrow."

"Nah it's fine, I probably just need some fuel..."

"Yes, we all know a hungry Fullmetal is a sloppy worker."

Ed smirked and got up to leave. "Hey, Colonel?"

"Mmm?"

"Could you maybe keep what I said to yourself? You know, um, don't want everyone to think I've gone weird..."

"Don't worry Ed, they already think you're weird." Roy ducked as Ed threw a stapler at him. "Hey, that could have caused a nasty injury!"

"Oh please, it would have barely scratched that massive head of yours. Later Bastard!" Ed ran out of the office and down to the food court.

Roy had to laugh. Ed's temper and disobedience was more amusing than threatening. _It's kinda cute, _though Roy. _Wait, did I just say cute? I have been working too hard. Maybe I can sneak out for some R & R? _And with that Roy got up and left the building.


	2. Chapter 2 An Interrupted Lunch

**Yay, I brought Hughes back! Killing him off was in my opinion so wrong he needs to be in my story! As you may have guessed there is slight feeling between Ed and Roy and it may turn into a slight romance, just to warn if no one likes yaoi! But it won't be graphic, doesn't really fit the story...**

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"EEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDD! You have GOT to see this! It is the cutest thing ever!"

"Hughes, I am trying to eat..."

"Awww you can eat in a minute, but first you have to see my darling Alicia..."

"Remind me, why did I rescue you from the gate?"

"Hey! That's mean! What made you so grumpy? Oh I know what will cheer you up!" Hughes proceeded to thrust several photographs of his daughter in front of Ed's face. "Look, this is her in her new uniform, isn't she just the cutest thing you have ever seen? Oh and this is when we went to the zoo! I am telling you no fluffly panda or baby monkey could beat Alicia on cuteness!"

"Hughes!" Ed yelled, "You showed me these photos a hundred times already. Yes you have a lovely family. Yes you are proud. Good for you. Can you just sit still and let me eat my dinner?"

Hughes sulked and put his photos back in his wallet, mumbling to his daughter as if she were there about how Ed was a mean boy. Ed rolled his eyes and continued to eat his sandwich.

"So, Ed, has Roy spoken to you about Trinity yet?"

"Yeah, he gave me those photos of transmutation circles."

"What do you make of it all?"

"I don't know. These circles, I can't figure them out. I – I've never seen them before." Ed decided not to tell Hughes about the dream. _Roy's right, it's just a coincidence, no need to bother Hughes. Wait, did I just call Colonel Bastard by his proper name? Jeez, must be getting soft in my old age..._

"How long do you reckon it will take for you to decipher them?"

"No idea. I reckon I may have to head over to the new Central Library and see if any of the old books they saved from the fire can help. If not, maybe Sheska can remember some old texts."

"Good plan. Hey, maybe you could get Al to help out!"

"I'd rather not bother him. He finally has his body back, and he now has that relationship with Winry, I doubt working a case with me is something he would be keen on."

"Awww, but I miss that kid! I haven't seen him since the day you brought us back! "Well could you least tell him to come visit? Next week would be good, Gracia and I are throwing a party for Alicia's birthday. She is turning 7, can you believe it? So grown up!" Hughes had an almost sad look in his eyes, but Ed said nothing. He knew it must have been hard for him and his family. Hughes had been dead for four years, he missed out on so much.

"Sure thing, I'll call him when I get home."

"Great! Thanks Ed!" Hughes immediately cheered up. "Oh gotta go Ed. Hey Riza, RIZA! I have something to show you!" Hughes ran over to Hawkeye to show her his photo collection.

Ed shook his head and went back to his lunch. Despite his annoying obsession with his daughter, Ed liked Maes Hughes. Back during his search for the philosopher's stone, Hughes had helped Ed out on many occasions, doing valuable research. Unfortunately, his research into the Ishbal war got him killed by the homunculi. Ed blamed himself for Hughes' death and vowed to get justice. Miraculously, at the final confrontation at the gate, the power of the stone had caused the gate to temporarily break. He was able to pull Al back through, and as he did this he spotted Hughes trying to get out. Ed helped him out just before the gate fixed itself, and the three returned to reality. To this day Ed is still unsure how he was able to do it, but was thankful that he could accomplish this goal. Since Hughes' return to the military, Ed decided not to ask for Hughes' help again. He would not make the same mistake twice. On that thought, Ed finished his lunch and left to go to the library to research the peculiar circles.


	3. Chapter 3 Trinity's Lair

**Just a short one for now :) **

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Joshua entered Trinity's lair and was greeted with several nods from his fellow members. He nodded back in recognition, and headed straight for the door of his leader's office. He knocked three times, and waited for Father Alistair to respond.

"Enter" came the deep menacing voice from within. Joshua tentatively entered.

"Excuse me, Father. I have heard from our brothers up North that the attack on the military base in Colt Street was a complete success."

"Excellent. That should make those blasphemers take us seriously!"

"Yes Father. So...what now?"

"We wait. They are bound to make some sort of comment, maybe try to assure the public or threaten some sort of counter attack. Let us see how things go."

"But, I thought you said they would never back down, so shouldn't we carry out the next step of the plan?"

"Patience, Joshua. Of course they won't back down, they are too pompous for that, thinking they are righteous and it is US who are in the wrong. But we need to give it time. If we rush things, mistakes can be made, and we can't afford to make mistakes. If we get stopped, we cannot carry out God's work."

"Yes Father, I understand. You are right, as always. Forgive my impatience."

"That is quite all right Joshua, your eagerness to follow the will of God is nothing to be ashamed of. Now rest child, you have done well. Tell the others to go home and await further instructions."

"Thank you Father, I will do that." Joshua bowed his head and swiftly left the office.

Father Alistair waited until he heard the last of his children leave. When he was sure the place was deserted, he began to laugh. "Idiots!" he yelled. "Yeesh, this is uncomfortable, better get back to my usual self." In a flash, Father Alistair disappeared and a scrawny figure with long green hair appeared in his place.

"Ah, that's better!" sighed Envy. "I can't stand being that fat priest, it chafes like hell! But I'll do whatever it takes to get these God worshiping morons to help with my plan. I'm almost ashamed I need their help, but last time I confronted that Fullmetal Pipsqueak and his metalhead brother they sent me to the other side of the gate. God I hate those bastards, how dare they kill my Father and siblings!" Envy realised his voice had raised in volume and his knuckles had turned white due to his tightly clenched fists. "Ah, calm Envy, you are getting more like Wrath these days. He was so irritating, I don't know why Father liked him so much. Anyway, better go see if I can spy on the midget alchemist..." And with that, Envy transformed into a beautiful young woman and left for his search for Ed.


	4. Chapter 4 Another Dream?

**Just had to say thanks to all the lovely reviews! Sadly I am useless at replying to people individually, but before I write the next chapter, I will put up a review on the chapter to thank anyone who comments, so I haven't ignored anyone you can check out the reviews :P Although if you have specific questions I will reply to you separately (unless you are anonymous then I have no idea how to do that...) **

**Anyhoo, this chapter is a bit longer, hope you all enjoy! I am hoping within the next few days to continue writing more, I don't like to leave people waiting too long for the next chapter :)

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_The young Private strode back and forth in front of the gate shielding the long drive leading up to the military base. It was his first week on duty, and he was exceedingly nervous, especially after the attack on another base only a few blocks away. He thought security would have increased, but the higher ups didn't want to make the terrorists feel like they were causing the military concern. So there he was, left alone to guard this base. Every time he heard a noise, he clutched at his rifle and stared at his surroundings, but nothing ever appeared. He scolded himself for being so nervous and continued his patrol._

_At about midnight, a young lady approached the gate._

"_S'cuse me miss, you aren't allowed to be here, you have to go."_

"_But sir, I need help!" The young brunette was clearly shaken and the young soldier saw that her dress was torn and there were scratches all over her skin._

"_My goodness, what happened?"_

"_He – he attacked me! Oh I am so frightened!" she sobbed._

"_All right miss, calm down. If you wait just one moment, I will get some soldiers to look for your attacked and call for a doctor."_

"_NO!" she screamed. "Please don't leave me! I am so scared!"_

"_I know miss but I will only be a moment, I will stay right by the door where you can see me –"_

"_No, please, let me come in with you!"_

"_I am sorry I can't, this is a restricted area..."_

"_But, what possible harm could little old me do?" the woman, barely in her mid-twenties, grabbed his arm and pulled herself close to him. "Besides, a strong man like you would be able to stop me if I tried anything."_

_The soldier blushed. "Sorry miss, but those are my orders."_

_Suddenly, the woman became angry and pushed the soldier to the ground with surprising force, his gun being thrown to the side. She stared into his eyes and they glowed a horrifying purple colour. "Well some of your 'orders' are bull. The Lord will not stand for your attitude towards a girl in need."_

"_What the –" the soldier was quickly silenced as the girl put a hand over his mouth._

"_Hush, and your life might be spared." The woman picked up the soldier's rifle and pointed it at him. "OK boys, come out!"_

_Out of the corner of his eyes, the man could see a group of burly men emerging from the shadows. For once the soldier wished for the street to be busier, with more buildings than just the military base, then maybe someone could see what was happening and call for help. And the base was too far along the drive for anyone inside to possibly hear the commotion. The Private was now petrified. "What are you doing?" he yelped._

"_Shut up military scum! Now what you are going to do is take my boys and I up to the door and let us in. If you don't, we will simply blow your brains out and break our way in. Now we would rather not waste our resources blowing the door down, but we will if we have to. So what will it be?"_

"_O – OK."_

"_Good boy. Now get up!"_

_The soldier slowly got to his feet and led the gang of brutes to the base. The brunette had his rifle pressed against his back, and he knew he couldn't attempt to escape without decorating the ground with his insides. When he reached the building, he knocked on the door and recited his name and ID number into the intercom system. After a few moments, the buzzer sounded and the soldier was able to open the door. He was about to enter the hall when the brunette stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder._

"_Thanks for the help honey. We won't be needing you anymore. It is now up to God to decide your fate." Without hesitation, the young woman pulled the trigger with the gun pointed and the soldiers head. The men rushed in and blocked all the doors so the confused soldiers could not enter the hall or leave the building. They left the brunette to quickly draw the bizarre transmutations circles using the blood of the young soldier. When she finished, she ordered her men to leave the building. The soldiers were finally able to break the doors down and see what was happening, but were quickly blinded by a bright light. Then they screamed in agony as their limbs were torn from their bodies. Within seconds, all the soldiers in the building were left dead in a bloody mess._

Ed woke with a jolt. The image of those men caused him to tremble, and it took him a few seconds to realise that it was just a dream.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed, breathing rapidly.

"Hey, keep it down over there!" a voice called from the other end of the library.

"Oh, um, sorry, must have drifted off..." Ed looked down and the table where he had unwittingly fallen asleep, covered in numerous texts on alchemy. None of them had proven to be any help at deciphering the odd transmutation circles, and he had obviously fallen asleep from sheer boredom of reading what he already knew. Ed got up, quickly returned the books he was reading and turned to leave.

"Nothing takes your fancy then Mr Elric?" the old librarian chirped.

"Huh? Oh... no... well... yes... it's for work but there isn't anything I need. Thanks anyway!"

"No worries, see you soon Edward!"

Still in shock, Ed ran out of the library. _Should I tell the Colonel? I mean, it was just a dream, but... what if it comes true? What if I am really having premonitions of people's deaths? We would need to warn someone. But what would I say? Hey I had a dream that a bunch of soldiers are gonna get wasted by a group of psychos led by a brown haired bitch with purple eyes, you need to do something! Who would listen to me? I'll get locked in the crazy house for sure. Even I am doubting my sanity. Aww hell, what am I gonna do? _As Ed pondered, he found himself making his way back towards Central HQ.


	5. Chapter 5 Distracted

**Woo getting somewhere now! I have written another 2 chapters after this but I won't put them all up at once until I know where to take the story further :) This chapter and the next are fairly short and are sort of filler chapters, chapter 7 will be far longer with a lot more going on :D But enjoy this for now :D

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"Hello? Anyone home?" Roy yelled. No response. Ed continued to scribble his name onto the desk. All the paperwork he had to sign had been finished, yet Ed was in such a daze he had failed to notice this. Roy decided on another tactic.

"Fine, stay if you want, but some of us need to go home. We all need a LITTLE sleep. " Roy made sure to put particular emphasis on the word little. It worked.

"Huh? What? WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE IS LITERALLY KNEE HIGH TO A GRASSHOPPER?" Ed flailed his arms about in total rage.

Roy laughed. "I said nothing of the sort. But glad to finally have your attention. You were supposed to leave work an hour ago. And you'll have to pay for that." Roy pointed and the deep engraving on the desk.

"Um... I signed the desk?" Ed's cheeked turned a rather delightful pink.

"I know you get rather attached to certain things, but that desk is technically military property."

"Yeah. Right. Sorry."

"So, were you thinking of something nice?"

"Um... not really... err... just... never mind."

Ed's embarrassment no longer amused Roy. "What is it?"

"I... err... well... oh jeez I don't know it doesn't make sense, I must be going crazy... "

"You're damn right it doesn't make sense, what the hell are you on about?"

Ed sighed, knowing damn well that the Colonel wasn't going to leave him alone. "I had another dream."

"Oh..." Roy couldn't think of anything better to say. "What was it about?"

"It was almost identical to the last time. Another military base attacked, lots of blood, bodies everywhere. Only this time, I got a better look at one of the attackers..."

"What did he look like?"

"She."

"Come again?"

"It was a woman. Brown hair, purple eyes, quite pretty. She tried to trick the guard into letting her into the base, but he was too damn cautious. She got angry and attacked him, forced him at gun point to let her and her men into the base. When they were in, she shot him. She is the one performing the alchemy. Like she was the leader..."

"Shit..." Roy was bewildered.

"I know. Normally it wouldn't bother me this much, I mean I have had worse nightmares in the past." Ed paused and shuddered, remembering those horrid nights waking up in cold sweats after yet another nightmare about their failed transmutation, or Nina's death, or all the other shit he and Al had to endure.

Roy pressed on. "But it bothers you now?"

"Yeah. Ever since Trinity's attack on the other base. It was almost identical to my dream. I mean, I know it's probably just a coincidence, but I can't help but wonder if it isn't something more. And if so, will this latest dream come true?"

Roy didn't know how to answer that. He shrugged, trying to think of a way to reassure the young alchemist. Ed was clearly distressed, but this was such an unusual problem.

"I honestly don't know Ed. I mean, you hear about clairvoyants and psychics, but they are never taken seriously, thought of as mad. But I know you, and you are anything but mad." Roy thought for a moment. "Look, if it makes you feel better, I can call the base in question and tell them to put extra security on the door –"

"Um, I don't think that's possible."

"How come?"

"Well, despite the fact that my dreams are vivid and very realistic and I can remember practically every detail, it took place at night. I have no idea where it was. It could have been any number of bases scattered throughout Amestris."

"Ah. Well then I am not sure there is much we can do, other than to see what happens. Look, it's probably just a dream triggered by the news of this attack and the sight of the crime scene from the photos I gave you. And the added concern you have about the first dream you have will not be helping the situation. Why don't you just go home and get some rest? Maybe you should call that brother of yours." Roy gave Ed a sympathetic smile.

Ed sighed. "Yeah I guess you're right. Sorry to be a pain..."

Roy chuckled. "Fullmetal, you were a pain from the moment I met you, I am used to it!"

"Haha Colonel Comedian. Best stick to the day job"

Roy pretended to be hurt. "How dare you! I am the most hilarious man in this building. Now go home jerk!"

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Adios Bastard." Ed smiled, and left the office, with the Colonel following not far behind.


	6. Chapter 6 Calling Al

**This is just a bit of a filler chapter, very short! In fact, I think I will put the next chapter up as well! :D

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"BROTHER!" Ed had to pull the receiver away from his ear as his brother screamed at him. "So good to hear from you! How is central?"

"Oh, the fun doesn't stop here." Ed said sarcastically. "I only had to do twelve piles of paperwork..."

Al chuckled. "Aww, poor brother!"

"No need to patronise me. So how's life with the Rockbells?"

"Great! Winry is teaching me how to fix automail, how cool! Oh and she has a new upgrade that she thinks you would love!"

"Thanks, but I'll pass. The last upgrade Winry gave me caused the arm to explode when I attempted some simple alchemy."

"Don't exaggerate brother, a few of the screws just came loose..."

"Yeah and nicely imbedded themselves into my head."

"They came out and there was no damage! They didn't go that deep..."

"Oh that makes it OK then. Face it Al, you're biased ever since you got in her pants."

"Brother!" Al moaned in embarrassment. "Must you say that? We're just dating, nothing more."

"Uh huh. And I am Queen of Amestris."

Annoyed, Al changed the subject. "Was there a reason you called?"

"Yeah actually. Hughes is having a party for Alicia next week, and he wants you there. I guess Winry is invited too, but you have to keep it clean in someone else's house."

"Oh wow, I'd love to see the Hughes' again." Al chose to ignore Ed's dig at his relationship with Winry. "Hang on, I'll tell Winry. WINRY!" Ed waited a few minutes while trying to figure out the mumbles from the other end of the phone. "Sure brother, we will grab the train to Central tomorrow, we should be with you on Friday!"

"Great, do you want me to meet you at the station?"

"Sure! The train arrives in central at 1.30. Can I ask one more favour?"

"Mmm?"

"Can you book us into a hotel? It's just, you know I hate booking over the phone..."

"OK. Double or twin?" The silence was a good enough answer for Ed. "Double it is then. Anywhere in particular?"

"Nah, anywhere affordable."

"OK I'll handle it tomorrow. Later bro."

"OK, bye Ed!" Al hung up. Ed realised he completely forgot to ask Al how long he planned to stay, but he figured a week would suffice and if Al wanted to stay longer he could extend it at a later date.

Ed sat on the edge of his bed for a while, thinking about the events of the day. He looked around at the grotty dorm room he was forced to live in, hoping that something in the room would solve all of his problems. No such luck. With a sigh, Ed decided to retire for the night.


	7. Chapter 7 A Painful End to the Night

**Woo, I am excited about this chapter! It is much longer and the story starts to really go somewhere from here I think! I thought I should point out, just in case any one complains - the way in which Ed has these visions was inspired by Supernatural (where the character Sam Winchester has very painful visions connecting to other psychics), I just thought that it was a good way to show the visions! So I guess I have to add to the disclaimer that I don't own any characters or that idea of painful visions :P**

**Anyhoo, hope you enjoy the chapter! In my haste at adding these 2 chapters up, it may take a wee bit of time to get the next chapters sorted, but I will work as fast as I can! :D

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The next few days had been uneventful, and Ed hadn't had any more nightmares. Although the investigation into Trinity was still going strong, they hadn't caused any further problems. Ed was a lot happier (although that didn't make him enjoy paperwork anymore than before) and even the Colonel wasn't getting on his nerves. Hughes continued to show Ed photos of Alicia and gave him about 12 invitations to her birthday party, just in case he lost one. _OK, so Hughes is just annoying as ever, _Ed chuckled to himself.

At 1 pm, Ed finished the last of his paper work and left for Central Station to meet Al. Unfortunately, he was unable to escape the insane Brigadeer General.

"Edward! Hey, that you off to meet Al? You better remind him about the party tonight! Oh here are invitations for him and Winry, and another for you –"

"Hughes, I have all of the other ones you gave me I don't need another!"

"But this one is different! Look! I put a photo of Alicia on top! Just to make sure you come! Although I want it back tonight, it's such a cute picture..."

"Here's an idea Hughes – why not just keep it? I am pretty certain I won't forget!"

"Fine then, but you better not forget, Alicia is really excited to see you!"

"I'll be there Hughes, you – and Alicia – won't be disappointed."

"Marvellous! Oh, and Ed?"

"Yes Hughes?"

"Happy birthday!" Hughes gave Ed the widest grin he'd ever seen, and walked off.

_Oh yeah, I forgot it's my birthday... _Ed thought. Ed was never really bothered about his birthday. Even when he was little, he didn't understand why successfully living for another year meant he deserved presents. He cared even less after he tried to bring back his dead mother. He felt so guilty for Al losing his body, and he often felt that he didn't deserve to be alive. He had always tried to keep his birthday quiet, but his ever chirpy little brother made sure everyone was aware when Ed had achieved another year of life. _Speaking of Al, I better go and meet him, the train will be in soon... _and with that Ed made his way to the station.

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"Ugh... Al... can't... breathe..." Ed gasped as Al had him trapped in a bone crushing hug.

"Haha, sorry brother, I forgot how fragile you are," Al released Ed and gave him a patronising pat on the head.

"Fuck off Al, just 'cause you got a freakish growth spurt in the gate," Ed moaned. He couldn't hide his irritation when Al got his body back, only to find that he was at least a foot taller than Ed, and equally as muscular.

"Aww, cheer up Ed, lots of girls love short men!"

"I AM NOT SHORT!" Ed yelled. He was about to argue more, but fell silent when he spotted Winry holding her infamous spanner.

"Ed, stop shouting at Al, it's not his fault! If you had bothered to drink milk you would be taller!"

"No way! The only benefit of that white slime is keeping loud babies quiet..."

"Exactly why you should drink it!" Winry smirked. Ed merely growled and stormed off, motioning for Al to follow.

"Al, why on Earth did you hook up with that devil woman?" Ed mumbled to himself. Ed remained grumpy for the rest of the journey to the hotel, while Al and Winry giggled hand in hand, swooning over each other. _This is going to be a long week,_ Ed thought.

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"Winry, would you get a move on? We have to be at Hughes' house in 30 minutes, and it takes at least that to walk there!" Ed groaned.

"Ed, just because you are happy to go to the party looking like a tramp, doesn't mean the rest of us don't give a damn about our appearance!"

"I do not look like a tramp..." Ed whined. Al just laughed.

"Come on you two, stop fighting, this is meant to be a happy day! And don't forget Winry, it's Ed's birthday too! Speaking of which..." Al rummaged through his suitcase and brought out a small, intricately wrapped box. "Happy birthday brother!"

"Aww, Al, you didn't need to!" Ed however accepted the gift and unwrapped it. He opened the box to see an all-too-familiar looking piece of metal.

"Al... is this... a miniature model of your armour?"

"Yes! Winry is teaching me how to work with automail, and while learning I became interested in making little models. I decided to make this piece for you to, you know, thank you for everything you have done for me, especially bringing me back, even though you were unable to fully restore your body..."

Ed stared at the tiny Al as a suit of armour, and any anger he had felt throughout the day left him.

"Wow, Al, it's awesome! Thanks! But you don't need to thank me, I did what any big brother would do..." he walked over to Al and pulled him into an embrace.

Winry watched the brothers and smiled. "Ok guys, I hate to spoil the moment, but we should really get going..."

"Yeah we should, although..." Ed was about to point out to Winry that he had been ready for a whole hour, but decided not to get into yet another arguement. And with that, the trio made their way to the party.

xxx

"Ed! Al! Winry! You made it! I was worried Ed would forget –"

"Don't start Hughes!" Ed complained. "You need to learn to trust me more!"

"I was just teasing Ed, I knew you'd come! Well no point standing around outside, come in and join the fun!" The three followed Hughes into the living room, where several young children were running around. _Must be Alicia's school friends, _Ed concluded. Winry ran straight to Alicia to wish her a happy birthday, and Al followed her. Ed stood awkwardly in the doorway, not sure whether to follow his brother or find someone to chat to. Unfortunately, someone found him first.

"Ah, Fullmetal, coming for the free food?"

"Shut it Roy. I'm here for the same reason you are."

"Yeesh, someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning!"

"Oh I was perfectly happy till you came along to annoy me."

"Still as mean as ever, shrimp" Roy grinned and gave Ed a playful pat on the back. "Here, maybe this will cheer you up!" He handed Ed a glass of champagne. "Everyone should have a drink on their birthday! Be careful though, apparently shorter individuals are affected by alcohol more than others."

Ed wanted to be pissed off, but Roy was treating him more like a friend than a colleague, so instead he laughed. "Thanks for the advice, but I heard that bastards are total lightweights and shouldn't drink. So maybe I should just take yours as well!"

"I'll take that chance thanks Ed." Roy gave him a cheeky wink and downed his glass.

"Roy, stop drinking so much, I don't want my Alicia to be around drunken thugs!" Hughes laughed and playfully punched Roy.

"Ah, lay off Maes, I am just proving to young Edward here that I can handle my booze better than him!"

"Yeah well prove it when the kids have gone! No more champagne for you!"

"Maes, you are such a kill joy!" Roy sulked. This made Ed laugh hysterically,

xxx

The rest of the night turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone involved. Ed spent a lot of time chatting to Al, Roy, Hughes and Winry, and was even persuaded to join in a few party games. Near the end of the night, as the children began to leave, Ed had developed a slight headache so decided to get some air and stepped out into the back garden.

Roy came out to join Ed, offering him some water. "You must have had too much!" he joked.

"I only had that one glass, and I have had more before without any problems, so it's not the champagne!" Ed protested.

"Yeah yeah whatever. Just drink this." Ed took a few sips of water, when all of a sudden the pain in his head got worse.

"Ugh, what the hell?" Ed gave Roy the water and proceeded to rub his head trying to ease the pain.

"Bad one huh?" Roy started to become concerned. He put a hand on Ed's shoulder, but that out to be a mistake.

"AAAAH" Ed screamed in agony, and he fell to the ground, his head in his hands. The pain was unbearable, and Ed failed to notice anything, or anyone, around him.

"Shit! Ed, are you all right? Talk to me!" Roy knelt down beside him and put his hands on his arms.

Ed didn't respond – in fact, Roy wasn't sure if Ed even knew he was there. He just cried in pain.

_Suddenly Hughes' garden vanished and Ed appeared on a dark street. He couldn't see much, but soon he was able to make out a very familiar military base – the one in his dream. Suddenly, he appeared in front of the young private he had seen guarding the door. Ed tried to talk to him, but realised that the young private couldn't see him. Various scenes from that horrific dream he had had a few days previously appeared rapidly before him, all the blood and flashing lights. _

The next thing he knew, Ed was back in Hughes garden, practically passed out in Roy's arms. His breathing was heavy and staggered, and his head still ached, but less severe than before. He wearily glanced up to find himself surrounded by all of his friends.

"Brother! You're awake! Oh God are you OK?" Al cried.

"I... err... don't feel so good..." Ed was very pale and had a slight greenish tint to his skin.

"Well if you're gonna hurl I would appreciate that you didn't do it on me!" Roy said, the relief obvious in his voice. He helped a shaking Ed to his feet and persuaded him to have another drink of water.

"Thanks, I think the nausea has passed."

"Good. Now what the hell happened? That was one major migraine! You need to see a doctor..."

"No really I'm fine! I... it was..." Ed didn't really know how to explain. "Roy, can I talk to you privately for a minute? It's about work..." he made that last statement to his rather hurt looking brother.

"OK, let's leave these two alone to discuss business, although why Ed wants to discuss work after that I have no idea!" Hughes exclaimed, motioning for the others to go inside.

"Are you sure you're OK brother?" Al almost whined, a little jealous that his brother didn't want to discuss the situation with him.

"I'll be OK Al. Look I'll explain everything later, but it will take a while to fill you in just now and this is urgent... I promise you will know everything soon."

"OK, see you inside Ed!" And with that Al returned to the house with the others.

"So, would you like to fill me in?" Roy asked.

"Ok. Again, this is going to sound weird but... remember that second dream I told you about?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... I don't think this was just an ordinary headache. I... had a vision. I saw everything that happened in my nightmare – it was as if I was there but I couldn't communicate with anyone, and no one saw me... I mean, I know I wasn't really there, I was here, but... Roy I'm worried. I don't think this is a coincidence anymore, it's all too real. I mean hell, why else am I having visions about people I don't even know?"

"Woah, OK, hold it a minute! We need to think this through calmly. Now as far as we know nothing has happened yet, but these nightmares, and now this 'vision'... I can't explain it. Has anything like this ever happened to you before?"

"No, never. I mean, for me, nightmares are nothing new, but they were all just memories, of mother, the transmutation, Nina... all the death and destruction I saw. But all had already happened. And these visions are new... hell I would remember that pain!"

"Ed this is weird..."

"You're telling me! I... I don't know what to do! I mean, what if this happens? I would know the murderer but how the hell would I prove it? 'Oh I saw her in a vision' is not really a good case!"

"IF it happens Ed. And it's a big IF. Look, why don't I take you home? In the morning we can look into this vision, see if anything has happened..." Before Roy could continue, Hughes ran outside.

"Guys, I just got a call – it seems Trinity has attacked another base. First they killed the guard at the door, and must have used his blood to make a transmutation circle. Some sick stuff... 'fraid we gotta go check it out."

Ed and Roy looked at each other in horror.

"Yeah we'll come!"

"Woah, Ed – when I said we I meant Roy and I! I mean, you just got one hell of a migraine, you need to rest!"

"No, I need to come!"

"Ed, go home with Al." Roy ordered. "I know you have an interest in the alchemy, but I can't let you go after ... what happened just now. Hughes is right, you need to rest."

"But, I need to see if my vision..."

"Ed, this is non negotiable. I order you to rest. I'm sorry, really. But I'll get as much information as I can and take photos and let you in on all the details tomorrow, OK?"

Ed sighed. "Fine, I guess you're right. I'll go back with Al and Winry." Roy winced at the pained look on Ed's face but he knows it's the right decision.

"Come on Ed, I'll take the three of you back to the hotel on the way to the scene OK?"

"Yeah OK, thanks." Ed mumbled glumly. He knew Roy meant well, but he really needed to see what had happened, it sounded far too similar to his vision.

"OK. Hughes, give me the address and I'll meet you there." Hughes nodded and gave Roy the address scribbled on a scrap of paper and went to tell Gracia where he was going.

The car journey back to the hotel was silent. Everyone was worried about Ed, but they all knew better than to question him. After dropping the youngsters off, Roy made his way to the scene of the crime to be met by a grim faced Hughes.

"It's nasty in there," Hughes muttered. "So much blood... Anyway, tell me Roy, what was Ed on about when he said his vision?"

"Oh, that... well... I am telling you this in strict confidence. Ed asked me to keep quiet but I am really worried about him, I need to tell someone, but you can't repeat a word of it OK? This stays between us."

"Of course Roy. What's up?" And with that Roy proceeded to tell Hughes everything about Ed's nightmares and vision.


	8. Chapter 8 Is Ed in Danger?

**Finally got the next chapter up! :) And now that my parents are back at work I have more free time to get more chapters written (well I hope!) :D**

**I hope to get the Ed/Roy yaoi stuff written soon, I just need to find an appropriate point to add it in :P

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Al looked over at his brother's sleeping form with concern. As soon as they got back to the hotel Ed explained everything about his nightmares and latest vision. The whole experience had worn him out and soon after explaining he fell straight to sleep on the sofa.

"Don't worry Al, Ed will get through this. You guys have been through so much these past few years, I'm sure you'll figure this out," Winry whispered, trying not to wake Ed.

"I don't know Winry. I mean everything we come across has been real... as in, something we could see, we could touch. But this is nothing like anything we have come across before. All of it is in Ed's head. He is – seeing the future! And nothing good either, just horrible violent deaths. I could help him search for the stone, to fight the homunculi, but I don't know how to help him escape the horror of his own mind..."

"Al, believe me, you will be a great help to Ed. Just being there and being supportive, that's all Ed has ever needed from you. As long as you are there, he will get through this. You both will. You should stay here with Ed, stay at his place. I would stay but I have to help granny with the business. It'll be all right Al. I know it will." Winry wrapped her arms around her lover's waist and rested her head against his shoulder. "Come on, let's go to bed, we don't want to wake your brother, he needs rest. And so do you."

Al warmed into the embrace. "Yeah you're right, they always say that things will turn out better in the morning." And with that, the pair climbed into bed to go to sleep.

xxx

_Joshua waited nervously outside Father Alistair's office. The Father had been in a foul mood and he didn't know why. He had wondered if he had failed somehow, whether the latest mission had gone wrong without him realising. _

_He jumped when the office door swung open and the portly priest looked down at him. "Come in Joshua," he growled. Joshua gulped and nervously followed the man into his office._

"_Is something the matter Father?" he asked warily._

"_I'm afraid so Joshua," the Father sighed. "It seems the Military have asked a very famous alchemist to assist in their investigations. He will be big trouble for us."_

"_But Father, you have knowledge of some of the most advanced alchemy I have ever seen! You said that no one knows of its existence –"_

"_They don't, but this alchemist is smart. Too smart. He may be young, but he has experience in forms of alchemy that even the most world renowned state alchemists are unfamiliar with."_

"_Who is he Father?"_

"_He is known as the Fullmetal Alchemist. And if we are to succeed in our mission, we must stop him."_

"_The Fullmetal Alchemist? You mean...Edward Elric? I have heard much about him, how are we supposed to stop him?"_

"_There is only one way we can – we must KILL him."_

"NO!" Ed screamed. As he woke from his nightmare, he fell off the sofa. He was sweating and he began to hyperventilate. He was trembling and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the strength to stand.

"Ed!" Al jumped out of bed and ran straight to his brother. "What happened? Are you OK?" Ed couldn't answer as he could barely control his breathing and was shaking too violently.

"Winry, could you get me a glass of water and a damp cloth, he's not well!"

"Of course Al!" Winry ran straight to the bathroom to get everything. Al pulled Ed to his feet and sat him on the couch, holding his brother steady. "It's OK Ed, just breathe. Calm down." Ed's breathing was started to slow, but he kept shivering. He felt light-headed and flopped over to his side. Al manouvered him so that is brother was resting against his own body. Within moments Winry had returned, set the glass of water on the floor and placed the cloth on Ed's head, trying to cool him down.

After a while, Ed's breathing became more controlled and he was able to take a drink. He stammered a "thanks" and a "sorry I woke you" and tried to stand, but promptly fell back to where he was.

"Just stay still brother. What happened?"

"Had an-nother vision," he slurred. "But it was-was different. No death. Just talking. But they know 'm helping. A man I think is leading said they had to kill me..."

"Oh my God! Right you are not working on this case brother, it's too dangerous!"

"No, Al, I have too! I need to stop them! They think I am the only one who can work out their alchemy. People will die, I can't let that happen!"

"But you're in danger!"

"That's nothing new Al. Besides, even if I stop working on this case, it won't stop the visions. They are getting worse, and I am finding it more difficult to recover. You saw how this one just affected me!"

"Because you had a shock!"

"I don't think so Al, I mean the previous visions were far worse, more horrific. The vision isn't as disturbing – I mean, I have had my life threatened several times in the past, it's not unusual for me. But the headaches, the dizziness, it's becoming unbearable, and the worst thing is I don't know how to control it! The only way I can think to end all of this is to try and stop Trinity!"

Al realised that his brother was right. "OK Ed, but I am going to help you." Ed started to protest but Al quickly interrupted him, "you don't have a say in this brother, I am helping you. You risked your life to get me my body back, and you didn't even get your limbs back, you're stuck with automail. Frankly it's the least I can do. Besides, you're my brother, and we must stick together."

Ed nodded in acceptance, "all right Al. But Winry, I insist you return to Resembool as soon as possible. I feel bad enough involving Al, and I don't want us both to have to worry about your safety –"

"I am perfectly capable of looking after myself thanks Ed!"

"Winry please, this isn't about whether or not you are capable of protecting yourself – I know you are! Hell you scare me with the way you throw that wrench around! But these guys don't use physical strength, they depend on complicated alchemy and Al and I have more experience and know what to look out for – no offense, but you don't!"

Winry looked at Al hoping that her boyfriend would stick up for her, but Al just shook his head. "Sorry Winry, but Ed's right. I can't let you get involved with this – it's too dangerous. I promise I'll keep you updated and call as often as I can, but I need you safe! If I spend the whole time worrying about you that could cause me to make mistakes and that could be disastrous! OK?"

Winry sighed. "All right boys, I understand. But you better call! I am going to worry otherwise!"

"We promise Winry. Come on we should get back to sleep. Ed, tomorrow we are going to tell the Colonel everything. Are you OK now?"

"Yeah, I'll be all right Al. You're right, we should get some rest. First thing, we'll check out, take Winry to the station and then head straight to Central HQ. Good night guys."

"Night brother!"

"Night Ed!" And with that, the trio went back to sleep for the last few hours of the night.


	9. Chapter 9 Getting a Plan in Action

**Well finally got this chapter finished :D I am not 100% happy with the way I have written this chapter - it was tricky! And I know I came up with a rather lame excuse to get Ed into Roy's house, but I have to get some way in getting yaoi in there! :P I am happier with the plot than the writing so I hope you guys enjoy it as well! And I am happy for mistakes to be pointed out, as I have to depend on spell checker - I am dyspraxic so I need a proof reader for academic work and well, I don't hire one for fan fiction :P So apologies if there are any mistakes! :)

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Envy had never been one to trust others, so he was always sure to observe the Trinity attacks. He would transform himself into a rat and hide amongst the bushes. However, this time, Envy chose to hang around to see how much the military had figured out. He wandered around the crime scene, listening to the conversations of the military personnel, smiling smugly to himself when no one seemed to have any idea what was going on. That was, until he spotted Mustang and Hughes (he chuckled – well more squeaked – when he remembered the incident in the phone box). Suddenly, all the smugness Envy felt was replaced with horror when he discovered about Ed's visions. He had remembered Father telling him about the power of the stone, but could that moment at the gate have given them some sort of psychic connection? If that was the case, Envy was even more furious as he had not himself had visions of Ed. _The Fullmetal pipsqueak is involved, this could ruin everything!_ He thought angrily. But, not being the one to panic, Envy came up with a simple solution – _Fullmetal must die. _With that thought, Envy scurried off back to Trinity HQ to formulate a plan to destroy Edward Elric.

xxx

"Jesus Roy!" Hughes cried. "Is it really possible for Ed to... well... predict the future?"

"It's starting to look that way Maes," Roy shook his head. "I am really worried about him – I mean with everything the kid has been through in his life, it's like fate just won't give him a break. I'm not sure how he will cope with this..."

"Roy, this is Ed we are talking about. He is stronger than most of the soldiers in this military – Hell, sometimes I think he is stronger than the two of us. He'll figure this out."

"But Maes, you saw how much pain that last vision caused. He was physically drained – it could kill him!"

"Woah, calm down Roy! If he can survive losing limbs after a human transmutation, I think he can handle this! But he won't go through this alone; we will help him through this."

"I guess you're right Maes. I still worry about him..."

"Never knew the kid meant so much to you..." Hughes raised his eyebrows, and Roy realised what he was getting at.

"No! Maes, I think of him as a good friend, but that's all! I just don't think he deserves to suffer this much."

"All right, all right, but I know you Roy, you clearly like him. Hey I'm not one to judge." Hughes smirked, but all he received in return was a glare from Roy. "Fine, I'll drop it. Come on, I don't think there is much more we can do here, it's been a long day."

"Yeah, sounds good. Look, I'm meeting Ed first thing, I promised to go over the case with him. Would you join us there?"

"Sure. And don't worry I'll keep an eye on you to make sure you don't do anything... inappropriate," he winked at Roy, but received a punch for his efforts. "Ow! I was just joking. Come on, let's get out of here." Both men swiftly left the crime scene and made their way home.

xxx

Roy sat impatiently in his office the following morning. Although he expected Ed to be angry at him for not allowing him to tag along the previous night, he just wanted to make sure he was all right. But just out of concern for a friend. _I don't know what Maes is on about, as if I would fancy Ed. Just because I like men, he automatically assumes I like any bloke I give a damn about. Sure, Ed is attractive – small, slender with well defined muscles, long blonde hair in an attractive plait, sexy golden eyes... _Roy had no idea he was grinning to himself until Hughes snapped his fingers in front of him face and yelled, "anyone home? Or are you too busy dreaming of a certain young alchemist, judging by that smile on your face?"

"No, I wasn't thinking of him," Roy lied, ever so slightly blushing. "I was actually thinking about the many ways in which I could cause you extreme pain."

"Ouch, I am soooooo offended!" Hughes replied sarcastically, yet he was unable to suppress his laughter. "So where is the young man in question?"

"Not sure, should be here in a minute or two." Sure enough, a few moments later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Roy yelled. He was not all that surprised when he discovered that Ed was not alone and was followed by his younger brother.

"Good morning sir," Al said politely. "I hope you don't mind me being here, but I really want to help Ed out..."

"Al, it's fine, you're always welcome. It's good to see you boys." Al smiled, but Ed remained silent. His face was pale and dark circles appeared under his eyes. "Are you feeling any better Ed?" Roy asked. He expected to be ignored, but was surprised when Ed answered immediately. "Not really, but I am going to work on this. People are dying, and I'm not going to let my health get in the way."

"Look Ed, if you are not up to it, you don't have to..."

"No, I'm doing this." He had hoped to come across firm and sincere, but his voice was shaky and he felt dizzy. He hadn't fallen back to sleep the night before; he was too busy worrying about what Trinity were up to.

"Maybe you should sit down brother." Al could see that his brother was light headed, and he didn't want him passing out. Ed merely nodded and slumped down onto the black sofa.

"If you are sure Ed, then I will let you work on this, but we must monitor your condition," Roy stated. Ed nodded in reply, looking thoroughly miserable. "Now I hope you won't be angry with me Ed, but I informed Hughes of your situation. I trust him to keep this too himself, and I think he could be of help." Roy prepared himself for the Ed rant, complaining about how he can't be trusted. Again, however, Ed took Roy by surprise. "That's OK, I trust Hughes."

"Well, that's good. Shall we proceed?" Before Roy could start discussing the case, Al blurted out, "Ed, you have to tell the Colonel and the Brigadier General about what happened last night!" Roy and Hughes looked at each other, then at Ed. Ed remained silent for a moment, then finally said "I had another vision last night."

"Another murder?" Roy groaned. No wonder Ed was looking so rough.

Ed shook his head. "Just a conversation between some members of Trinity. Somehow, they know I am involved with the case, so they..." Ed trailed off. Al was quick to finish, "So they are planning to kill Ed!"

Roy and Hughes stared at Ed in horror. Finally, Hughes was the one to break the silence. "If your life is in danger Ed, I am not sure I am comfortable with you working on this case. I am sure Roy will agree." Hughes looked at Roy for back up, and Roy nodded.

"I don't care if my life is in danger." Ed muttered (he had attempted a yell but he just didn't have the energy). "My life was in danger throughout my hunt for the stone. Actually, being in the military guarantees my life is in danger. You guys should know it comes with the territory. The reason I am concerned is that they know I am involved. Surely that means someone is watching us. Or worse – there is a mole in the military. This means we are going to have to work with extreme caution on this case."

Roy knew that there was no way he was going to stop Ed working on the case, so reluctantly he had to allow him to continue. "All right Ed, you can stay on this case. But I want to offer some sort of protection. If someone is threatening your life I don't think you can be left alone. Hughes, do we have a safe house we can arrange for the boys?"

" 'Fraid not Roy. But after all the trouble we had from the homunculi, it's taking a while to return to normality. Safe houses were kinda low down on the priorities list..."

Roy thought for a moment. "Well you boys will have to stay with one of us. I'm happy for you to stay with me, I have two spare rooms. I don't want to put Alicia and Gracia in trouble so I don't think you should stay with Hughes. Normally I wouldn't do this, but these are extraordinary circumstances. Are you boys fine with that arrangement?" The brothers nodded, although Al seemed slightly more enthusiastic. "Good, it's settled then. Al, you return to Ed's flat and gather your things and then you can wait in my office for the day to end. Ed, I want you to continue with paperwork, we can leave the case until later. Hughes, do you think you could arrange a team to check the security of this building? See if we can't find this spy..."

"I think so Roy, but I'll need to come up with a reason for investigating the security."

"You'll come up with something, I trust you with that. Right, let's get to it."


	10. Chapter 10 Moving in With Roy

**Hey guys! Sorry this took so long to update, I have been a little preoccupied with driving theory! Sadly, I will returning to university in a couple of weeks, and as it's my final year, there will be a lot of work plus my dissertation. This means that I may be fairly slow at updating from now on. But I can assure you I won't be giving up on this story and it will end eventually! :D**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter! It took me a while to write it so I hope it was worth it lol! I feel the yaoi may be coming quite soon as well! ;)**

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For the whole day Riza had been piling paperwork on Ed's desk, but he seemed to be in a world of his own. Riza said nothing as Roy had warned her earlier that Ed had not been feeling great. Although he was signing reports, he wasn't reading them. Riza made a mental note to ask the Colonel to check them thoroughly at some point.

Ed knew that Riza was watching him like a hawk (_Hawkeye is such a fitting surname, _he thought) but he didn't care. He was too busy thinking about Trinity. He couldn't figure out their motivation for murdering so many soldiers. They claim they are working for God, but he felt that was a load of bull. _What God would allow the mindless slaughter of innocent people? _Ed thought. He assumed there must be another reason for the killings, but he just couldn't work out what it could possibly be. Then there was the alchemy – most religious extremists believe that alchemy is evil, so why are Trinity using it? Not only that, but the alchemy is very peculiar – certainly something Ed has ever come across before. Ed has studied alchemy from all eras and regions – even the ancient Xing alchemy Mai had used – but the transmutation circles Trinity used didn't resemble any known form of alchemy. Ed had to assume that it was very old, almost pre-historic. But if that was the case, who could possibly know about it, especially if he had never seen it before? There are few alchemists who know more than the Elric brothers. _I guess, in a way, that narrows down possible suspects, _he concluded. _That priest seemed to be the leader, so I think he must be the one who knows about the alchemy... but who is he? I have never known a priest to know so much about alchemy. Even Father Cornello knew comparatively little. _Ed was getting increasingly agitated as he tried to understand everything. He also wondered how this priest – whom he had never met – knew so much about him. _Man, I really must have pissed the clergy off throughout my life! _Ed had to laugh at himself, remembering the time where he openly compared alchemists to Gods. Ed had to laugh at himself, remembering the time where he openly compared alchemists to Gods. _Yeah, that would piss off a lot of priests! _

xxx

Ed was relieved when Roy and Al came to take him home – even though he had done hardly any work, he would at least have someone to talk to instead of being lost inside his own head.

The drive back to Roy's house was pleasant. Everyone sat in silence, admiring the scenery as Riza drove them home. Ed had even managed to have a short nap, practically falling onto Roy's shoulder – much to the older man's annoyance (well, at least he pretended to be annoyed). When they finally reached Roy's house, he playfully punched Ed, saying "If you are quite done using me as a pillow, you might want to consider getting out of the car". Ed jolted awake, then turned bright red when he realised that he had fallen asleep on Roy. "Um, yeah, sorry about that... been a bit tired lately... yeah I'll, go get my bags and err... yeah..." Ed knew he was making no sense, but he was too embarrassed to be coherent. He practically jumped out the car to help Al carry the bags up to the front door. Al, of course, was in fits of giggles, teasing Ed about his little cuddle with Roy. "Al, seriously, I will END you if you don't shut it!"

"Now now Ed, I don't want you killing your little brother on my porch, I have standards to maintain!" Ed promptly gave Roy the finger and trudged grumpily into Roy's house. He was soon taken aback by the sheer size of the place.

"Fuck Roy, how did you afford such a huge house?"

"Glad you like it. I inherited it from my parents, they were considerably wealthy."

"It's awesome!" exclaimed Al. "So, where do I sleep?" Roy led the brothers to their bedrooms, and gave them time to unpack while he went to prepare dinner. However, after about 5 minutes, Al decided that he wanted to help make dinner and would unpack later. Roy was happy to let Al help, mainly because he was a useless cook and Al had proven himself to be quite nifty in the kitchen. Ed, being equally as useless as Roy when it came to cooking, remained upstairs to unpack.

xxx

Once dinner was over, the 3 men cleaned all the dishes and then made their way to the study to discuss the case. Roy had decided to wait until this point to work in response to Ed's concern about a spy in the military. The first thing Ed did was look at the photos of the transmutation circles, and as he had feared, they were identical to those he saw in his nightmare. As Roy read through numerous reports and witness statements (although those were not particularly helpful), Ed and Al studied the transmutation circles, reading many alchemy books from Roy's collection.

The 3 men worked on this for almost 5 hours, but they had made no real progress. The alchemy was still a mystery to the brothers, and Roy could find no clue as to who was behind the killings. As the grandfather clock in the corner struck midnight, the alchemists decided to call it a day. Luckily, they had the next day off so they could work on it more then. As soon as each man climbed into bed, they fell asleep almost instantly.

xxx

Ed woke up at 3am due to a call of nature. He had a slight headache, but he shrugged it off, putting it down to all the stress he was under. Once he was done in the bathroom, he washed his hands and splashed some cold water on his face to try and make him feel better. The headache was worsening, but he didn't want to disturb Roy by asking where he kept the painkillers. _Hopefully, some sleep will make this better,_ Ed though and made his way along the corridor back to his bedroom. As Ed approached his bedroom door, the pain in his head suddenly became unbearable. He saw a flash of bright light, then everything went black and he felt himself falling to the ground.

xxx

Roy woke instantly when he heard a loud bang from inside the house. _Shit! _He thought, _someone has broken in! I have to protect Ed! _Despite only wearing a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, he grabbed the gun from his bedside table and practically ran into the hallway. He turned on the light, expecting to find someone trying to get into Ed's bedroom. Instead, he found the young alchemist lying on the floor. Roy rushed over to his side, fearing the worst, but was relieved when Ed was breathing fairly steadily. He wondered whether or not to search the house for the culprit, but immediately decided against it when Ed suddenly woke up. He was visibly scared and started to panic, oblivious to Roy's presence.

"Hey! Ed, it's Ok, you're safe! Who did this to you?"

Ed looked stunned. "Did what? No one – I – v-vision..." Ed was trembling. "Oh shit, oh shit..."

"What Ed? What happened?"

"I...oh God..." Roy was surprised when tears started to stream down Ed's face.

"Hey, what is it? Come on, let's go into your room, don't want to wake Al yeah?" He practically carried the young alchemist into his room, turning the hall light off so as not to disturb Alphonse. He sat Ed on his bed and pulled a blanket around his shoulders. Ed immediately pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them and buried his face in his arms, silently crying. Roy put a hand on Ed's arm and waited for him to calm down.

"It's all right Ed, just take your time. When you're ready, tell me what you saw."

After a while, Ed lifted his head up, red rimmed eyes staring up at Roy.

"Trinity are going to attack HQ. I saw you and me talking in the opposite street, then HQ blew up. Al... Al was inside. So was Hughes. Then, I found Al's body..." suddenly Ed broke down into uncontrollable sobs. "It was awful!" he choked out between sobs. "I – I think they were after me, but they got Al and Hughes and God knows how many others instead. I – I can't let them die because of me! I can't!" Ed sobbed even harder, and was starting to panic again. Without really thinking, Roy pulled the young alchemist into a comforting embrace. Ed grabbed the front of Roy's shirt and clenched his fists tightly, afraid of letting go, and cried into his chest. Roy held him, rubbing his back and stroking his hair, cooing comforting words into his ear.

"Shhh, it's Ok Ed. We'll stop this Ed, we won't let anything happen to your brother, or Hughes. We'll figure this out." Roy honestly didn't know what he was going to do, but he didn't think voicing his doubts to Ed would help in Ed's current state.

"I don't know," Ed whimpered, "I can handle people trying to kill me, but not Al... Because of me he almost died, and Hughes got killed. They have been given a second chance, and I can't let them die... they don't deserve any of this..."

"And you don't deserve this suffering either. You can't blame yourself for what happened in the past, and what's going on now is not your fault. We will figure this out. All we need to do is keep Al and Hughes away from HQ until this blows over..."

"How do we do that? Al will never let me go alone knowing that my life has been threatened. As for Hughes – I mean, he is a Brigadier General! I don't know when this will happen, do you really think the higher-ups are going to let him take time off because I had a vision that he would die?"

Roy realised that Ed had a point. "Well, we all have the day off tomorrow. I'll ask Hughes to come over and we can all discuss this. We won't let anything happen to them. At least with your vision we know what to expect and figure out a way to avoid the worst."

Ed sniffed, and pulled away from Roy slightly, still clinging on to his shirt. He was still crying slightly, but he had calmed down considerably. "I hope you're right. I can't lose Al, I don't think I could cope without him."

"I know, and we will keep him safe."

Ed nodded. "I will certainly do everything I can. I would die for Al."

"I know you would Ed. And Al knows that as well."

Ed finally stopped crying and let go of Roy. Roy kept a hand on his arm, just to keep him calm.

"I guess. Thanks Roy. Really sorry about this, I don't usually break down like that... It's a little embarrassing..." Ed looked away, but Roy gently cradled his face with his hand and made Ed face him.

"It's fine Ed, don't be sorry. You need to open up more. I am here to help and I'm not going to think badly of you for getting upset. After everything you have been through in your life, I think you are entitled to a break down." Roy smiled sympathetically at him. "I think you should rest now, this must have been exhausting."

"I don't know if I can. I keep thinking about these visions, especially when I'm alone..."

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Ed was shocked by what Roy said, and Roy was mentally kicking himself for suggesting it – it could be taken the wrong way.

"Well... I don't want to inconvenience you, but, you know, if you want to..." Ed was mortified and wanting Roy to stay with him, like a child wanting to sleep with its parents after a bad dream.

"It doesn't bother me Ed. I had to bunk with Hughes during the Ishbal war, and frankly you can't be any worse than him. I don't know how Gracia puts up with it..." Roy grinned as Ed laughed at this. Ed moved along the bed to give Roy enough room, and Roy pulled the cover over the two of them.

"Now Ed, we don't mention this to anyone, especially Hughes. He will never let us live this down. And don't even consider using this as blackmail material!"

"Don't worry, I'll pretend nothing ever happened." Ed smirked as he lay back onto the pillows, falling asleep almost instantly. Roy turned off the light and joined Ed, slightly surprised when the young alchemist snuggled into him. However, he didn't push him away, and instead put an arm around Ed's shoulder and allowed himself to drift off, knowing that Ed was safe and doing all right. _Maybe Maes has a point, _he thought sleepily, _Ed is certainly an amazing man. I wouldn't say no... _Roy smiled, and fell into a deep sleep, expecting a night of pleasant dreams.


	11. Chapter 11 A Breakthrough?

**Hey guys! Hopefully you all haven't died of boredom waiting for me to upload! This is my final year at university and I have so much work it is unreal! I managed to squeeze in a bit of time tonight before bed to give you the next chapter, so sorry if it appears a bit rushed! Unfortunately, I imagine I will continue to be a slow updater until the workload calms down - it seems the lecturers for all of my modules wish to have all the deadlines within the next month, and this doesn't include my dissertation... anyhoo, enough rambling, I just wanted to assure you all that I won't give up on this story so I hope you won't give up on me! :D**

**I decided to bring back a bit of the bastardy Roy again as he was getting too soft last chapter, plus I think we needed a bit of humour in the midst of this dark angstyness! Oh and I took on board all of the advice I have received from my reviewers so I hope this chapter proves to be an improvement! Enjoy! **

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Al awoke to the sound of birds chirping merrily in the early morning. Ed hated the noise, threatening to transmute a shotgun and kill each and every one until they shut up, but it always made Al happy. It was relaxing, and whenever he heard the noise he felt that all was right with the world. During the years when he was trapped in armour, he had missed many of the basic luxuries in life, but thankfully he could still hear the early morning bird song. It allowed him to forget his mother's passing, the loss of his body and the obvious suffering his older brother was going through (which he would never talk about, especially as most of the suffering came from overwhelming guilt for the loss of Al's body). Ever since life returned to normal, the morning chorus once again became just an enchanting, peaceful sound instead of just being a means to escape his pain as it had become these past few years. Although he still worried for his brother, now more than ever because of these visions, Al allowed himself to get lost in the beautiful sound.

After a while, Al decided to explore Roy's house before he and Ed awoke. He could no longer lose himself in the bird song, due to a grumpy old neighbour yelling at the poor defenceless creatures, as if their existence was a terrible inconvenience to his pitiful life. Well, Al had no proof his life was pitiful, but he hated the birds being disturbed while he was enjoying their calls. Quite often back home, if his brother started to complain, he had threatened to smother him with a pillow if he tried to silence the birds. Al chuckled at the memory, and slowly climbed out of bed to change out of his pyjamas. Before exploring the rest of the house, which Al thought of as a mansion compared to everywhere else he has lived in his life, he decided to properly examine his bedroom. Even though this was deemed the smallest room in the house (with the exception of the bathroom), to Al it was enormous. A Victorian king-sized bed sat against the far wall, underneath a bay window, providing excellent views of the far off countryside. On the left of the room stood a large mahogany wardrobe, so large in fact that all of Al's clothes barely filled half of it. On the right there was a tiny yet handsome desk, together with what looked like a small dining chair, where Al intended to write letters for his beloved back in Resembool.

Although Al was desperate to check out the other rooms upstairs, he did not wish to disturb Roy or his brother, so reluctantly he decided to head downstairs to continue his investigations. He had already gotten the opportunity to marvel at the kitchen and grand study, so he moved straight to the living room, and gasped at the sheer scale of the room. He reckoned that all of Ed's apartment could fit into this one room. However, despite the size, there was relatively little furniture in the room. There were a couple of black leather sofas at the far end next to a decorative fireplace (surprisingly the only one in the house of the infamous flame alchemist), a small coffee table in the middle, and a grand piano near the front, which was odd considering that the Colonel didn't play. _Must have belonged to his parents, _thought Al. The instrument was so beautiful, that he forget about his slumbering housemates and started playing random notes very badly. After a few minutes, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and stopped abruptly, realising that he just woke up the colonel. He ran into the hallway, practically crashing into the older man.

"Sorry Mr Mustang, it was just such a beautiful piano I couldn't resist... I didn't realise I was playing so loudly, I didn't mean to wake you..."

In actual fact Roy had woken up before Al had started playing. He was sneaking back into his own bedroom when he heard the cacophony of notes from the living room. However, since Al seemed so apologetic, he cruelly decided to use this to his advantage. "It's fine Al, you didn't mean it. Although I am very tired, I'm not so sure how I am going to make a decent breakfast for the three of us in my current state..."

"Oh don't worry about it, you go and take a shower and change and I will prepare breakfast to make up for my appalling behaviour!" And with that, the young alchemist retreated to the kitchen to start breakfast while Roy returned upstairs to shower, an evil grin plastered across his face.

xxx

After showering, Roy dressed and went to Ed's room to wake him up. Of course, Roy being Roy, this was not going to be pleasant for Ed. He sneaked into Ed's room and proceeded to squirt shaving foam onto his palm. When his work was done, he began to tickle Ed's nose, causing the alchemist to wake up and rub his face to discover the cause of the irritation. In doing so, much to Roy's delight, he inevitably smeared the foam all over his face. Confused, Ed rushed to the mirror to find out what the wet feeling on his face was, plus the cause of Roy's hysterics. He soon put two and two together and turned to attack the Colonel. Unfortunately, Roy had made a swift exit leaving an angry Ed to trudge to the bathroom to clean off the mess.

By the time Ed had cleaned himself and changed, his breakfast had gone cold. This caused him to receive and furious glare from Al. Ed explained the situation, but since Al still felt guilty for "waking up" Roy, he refused to be angry at him. Ed threatened to throw a couple of fried eggs at Roy's smirking face, but Al gave him a do-that-and-you're-dead look, so instead he growled and ate his breakfast in irritated silence.

xxx

Once breakfast was over and Ed finally decided to enlighten the Colonel with the power of speech (even if this mainly consisted of complaints about him being a total bastard), he announced that he would invite Hughes over for a bit as he had promised Ed (although he left that part out so as not to alert Al at that moment). Despite much protest from his best friend, Roy eventually got Hughes to agree to come over that evening once Alicia had gone to bed. Once the following gruelling conversation about how amazing Alicia was – if you can really call it a conversation seeing as Roy didn't get a word in edgeways – had ended, Roy joined the 2 young alchemists in the study to continue with the research into the Trinity attacks.

xxx

Ed barely noticed anything going on around him, even ignoring his brother's pleas for him to eat lunch. He was too transfixed on figuring out the alchemy used by Trinity, and unwanted yet pleasant thoughts about a certain military man. After what felt like a century, Ed gave up reading alchemy books and decided to draw out the transmutation circles on scraps on paper despite knowing them by heart, although his mind was elsewhere. He kept thinking about his vision the night before, and how Roy had been such a great comfort. Of course he was very concerned for the safety of Al and Hughes, but he couldn't help thinking about how he was starting to like Mustang a lot. His embrace had calmed him down, making him feel secure, and he was convinced that they would find a way to save Al and Hughes. _With Roy by my side, I can save my brother and friend, _he thought. _Woah hang on, that was far too cheesy and girly! And I am straight! Aren't I? I mean, I've never really liked any specific girls, but that doesn't make me gay... but what are these feelings that I have for Roy? IT must be more than friendship, as it feels nothing like the way I feel for Hughes. With Hughes, I don't get butterflies or whatever... oh dear God, I think I fancy Roy Mustang! This is so not good... _Ed sub consciously slapped himself across the face for having these "disgusting" thoughts, causing him to receive confused glances from his brother and the annoyingly handsome one.

"Err, are you all right brother?" a dumbstruck Al asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, um, fine, was just drifting off you know, I had to make myself stay focussed..." Ed looked down at his scribbles, and his eyes widened as he spotted something.

"Fullmetal? Have you found something?" Roy asked as he saw the look on Ed's face – he insisted on acting officially as they discussed the case, althoughhe was the only one who bothered with formalities.

"I think so... Al, take a look, do you see it?" Ed showed his etchings to his younger sibling, who remained confused.

"Sorry brother, I don't see anything, other than the fact you have scattered the image about a bit..."

"Come on Al, think! You saw the truth, right? Remember, at one point, there was a bunch of random symbols on a wall somewhere..."

Suddenly, Al's eyes seemed to glow in recognition. "Oh yes brother you are right! Of course, I understand now!"

"Pardon me for intruding lads, but would someone please explain what on earth you are talking about? I mean, 'the Truth'? What's that all about? And what do you understand?"

Ed and Al had almost forgotten the older alchemist as realisation struck them, so Ed explained. "When someone performs a human transmutation, they are confronted with the gate which separates the worlds of the living and the dead. Something, I don't know what, takes that person into the gate, confronting them with many seemingly random images. Although I can't explain it, to all who witness these images, it feels like the truth. The truth to existence, to life and death, to alchemy. These transmutation circles were things we witnessed as a part of the truth. This means that whoever is the leader of Trinity, this priest, must have seen the truth! He has committed the unforgiveable deed and has faced the gate!"

"Or," Al piped in, "it's possible he could have been created as a result of human transmutation... a homunculus like Bradley!" exclaimed Al.

"But we destroyed the homunculi! Besides, none of them looked like the priest I saw. Unless he is wearing a downright awful disguise!" Ed joked, but quickly turned serious as he remembered a certain homunculus. Al remembered this homunculus as well.

"Or he is a shape shifter like Envy!"

"But we killed Envy! It can't be him; he can't just magically come back from the dead!"

"Ed, you brought Hughes back," Roy piped in.

"Yeah Ed," Al agreed. "You said that you were somehow able to pull Hughes out when there was a disruption in the gate. It's possible that Envy could have escaped! It also explains why this priest wants you dead, if he is Envy. It also could explain why you are having visions – maybe the power of the stone gave you some sort of connection to him!"

"Well, if it truly is Envy, this is worse than any of us could have imagined! A homunculus is almost indestructible, and Envy is particularly powerful. And who knows if a homunculus coming back from the dead could be more or less powerful than before? I hope to God that this priest is just a psychotic human, but I am concerned that your assumption could be right Al!"

"If it is this Envy character," Roy pondered, "was he acquainted with anyone else in the military aside from Bradley? If so they could be the military spy..."

"Not that I am aware of, but who knows? Any of Bradley's colleagues who knew the truth of his identity could have met Envy. It is also possible that there is no spy within the military – Envy can make himself look like anyone or anything, he could easily spy on us himself. We are not safe anywhere – if Envy is involved, it will become increasingly difficult to trust anyone, including each other. This is bad news Roy..."

Just then there was a knock at the door. "Shit, I forgot about Hughes! Boys, we need to tell him everything we have just discussed, as well as your latest vision Ed." Roy made his way to the front door to let his friend into the house.

"What vision is this brother? And why does Roy know about it and not me?"

"Sorry Al, I wanted to tell you with Hughes as it has something to do with both of you. And Roy only knows because he found me in the hall last night as I was having my vision."

"Aww man, not another vision!" Hughes cried after eavesdropping on the brothers' conversation. "What happened this time? And how does it concern your brother and I?"

Ed motioned for the others to sit in the living room and he explained everything about the vision to his brother and Hughes, as well as informing Hughes about their recent discovery regarding the transmutation circles. The men realised they would be in for a long night...


	12. Chapter 12 Joshua's Own Nightmare

**Hi guys! Wow it has certainly been a while! Apologies, these last few weeks have just been hectic! I FINALLY have a bit of a break! Hopefully I can work on a couple more chapters over the next couple of days :D Hopefully I won't need too many more chapters to finish off the story, I don't want it to drag on for too long, we want Envy to fail! Or... maybe he will succeed... I haven't decided yet :P And I know it has been low on yaoi, but I think with the general plot of the story it seems a little inappropriate for Ed and Roy to be thinking of a relationship right now... maybe at the end :P I will see how I feel! **

**Anyhoo, enough babbling. I hope you enjoy this chapter. A bit shorted than others, I guess you could say it is another filler, but I needed to get back to Envy and Trinity just so the story would flow a bit better. If my grammar/spelling is appalling I apologise, I have had sooooo many deadlines recently I am knackered, plus some of my keyboard keys are not working well, mainly k, l and n (I had to bash those there) so some words may be a bit off... Hopefully it won't detract from the story. Thanks all for your patience!

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Joshua left the meeting room at Trinity's base after a long discussion about the ways they could destroy the Fullmetal alchemist. Even though Joshua had some clever ideas, none of them seemed to please Father Alistair. _Why is the Father so worked up over this Elrid, Elrim... metal guy? Surely there is no mortal who is more intelligent than him? _Joshua wondered. As he neared the exit to head home for the night, he tried to find out the time. Unfortunately, he couldn't find it, realising he must have dropped it inside the meeting room, which was now locked. He realised he would have to go into Father Alistair's office to get the key. _I hope he doesn't mind, _Joshua thought. However, the young man was so desperate to get home, he decided to risk the priest's bad mood, and ran into his office without bothering to knock. At that moment, he wished that he had never returned. He stared in horror as Alistair started to transform into a hideous man with a pale, almost skeletal frame and spiky green hair, which reminded Joshua of a pineapple. The man turned around upon hearing Joshua gasp.

"Joshua," Envy sneered. "Did your mother never teach you that it is rude not to knock?"

"Who are you, what have you done with Father Alistair?" Joshua shouted.

"Hush child, it is I," Envy declared in the voice of Alistair. "This is my true form, or at least my preferred form."

"Huh? What the hell are you?" Joshua was confused, and a little frightened.

"Whatever I feel like I suppose. A true monster. Unfortunately, this has posed a bit of a problem. See, I had this plan, manipulating you religious idiots into destroying the military so I could take over Amestris and take vengeance on that midget alchemist. But you know my secret, and I can't let anyone else know. This simply won't do Joshua."

"I can't believe you used us, used God, for your own selfish needs!"

"Newsflash – God doesn't exist. If he did, I would have been in Hell for my crimes when I died, and I certainly wouldn't have been able to come back. Unless of course God only exists for humans and not monsters... I wonder... I will have to ask that brat before I destroy him..." while Envy inappropriately pondered the existence of God, Joshua used this opportunity to pick up a rather weighty bronze statue that sat on the desk and sneak about behind Envy, proceeding to strike him over the head. He struck Envy several times – there was blood everywhere, including bits of skull and brain. Once Envy stopped moving, Joshua dropped the statue panting, relieved that he had managed to save his own life from this crazy person. He turned to leave, but stopped as he heard movement behind him.

"Hey, that hurt you asshole!" Envy yelled. "And look at my office, this blood will stain my white carpet!"

Joshua couldn't believe his eyes. Not only did the man – thing – survive several blows to the head that should have been fatal, the wound seemed to heal itself instantly and the hideous creature looked unharmed.

"What the – what the HELL are you?" Joshua screamed.

Envy glared at him evilly, grinning and baring his disgusting yellow, pointed teeth. "Me? I am your worst nightmare." Within seconds, Envy had grabbed Joshua's head and snapped his neck.

"Shame," Envy thought as he stared at the corpse of his minion. "He was a good help to me, his slaughtering skills were top notch. If only he had manners..."

Envy disguised himself as the priest once more and called the other members of Trinity for an emergency meeting.

"What is it Father? You seem distressed!" asked Mildred, the purple-eyed brunette.

"It is our brother, Joshua," he replied. "It seems that he was feeding the military information about us – he was a mole. I had no option but to... get rid of him."

"NO!" Mildred cried, and the other members gasped in horror. "I trusted that bastard! I thought he believed in our cause, the blasphemer!"

"Hush my dear, it is over now. He hadn't given up the whereabouts of our lair, so the military shall not arrive. Unfortunately, they know of me, so I will have to remain hidden for our protection. Can I count on you to carry on our good work? I will remain here at all times, but only call on me in emergencies. And if I am caught, do not give up, and don't try to rescue me, I shall be fine on my own."

"Of course Father, you needn't worry. And you won't get caught, I will make sure of that!"

"You are a wonderful person Mildred. I only wish I hadn't put all of my faith into that treacherous Joshua. I hope you can forgive me, and agree to take over as second in command."

"Oh yes Father, I would be honoured. You do not need to apologise, that heathen had us all fooled. This just proves that the military cannot be trusted."

"Exactly my child. Well, we must not dwell on what cannot be altered, let us continue. Oh and Mildred, can you find a couple of men to rid my office of that man? I warn you it is messy – I had to hit him several times over the head in self defense – he tried to kill me!"

"Oh Father, I am sorry I was not around to help you, I am glad you are all right! Matthew, Johan – you heard the Father, dispose of that body and clean the office!"

"Yes miss!" the men replied in unison and ran into the office, apparently not caring about their fallen brother.

"Thank you Mildred dear, you are free to return home for tonight."

After everyone had left, Envy returned to his true form. He laughed hysterically – his lie paid off. He congratulated himself for pulverising Joshua's head to explain the blood present. The self defense part was partly true – well, more revenge and self preservation, but Envy felt like justifying his actions. _Now, _Envy thought, _I must get to work on creating the perfect transmutation to destroy Central HQ, and finally ending the life of that freak Elric." _


	13. Chapter 13 How to trap Envy

**Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry it has been a while, but I have had so much uni work to do and I have just finished my exams! I haven't had time to write! Anyway, I am hoping to end this story soon, so hopefully I can get the last few chapters up before I start my second semester (while making sure I have enough time to write my dissertation review essay before doing the lab work for it, sob)! **

**About the chapter... well... if you think it is rubbish I am very sorry! I stupidly got myself into a situation I couldn't find my way out of, so I had to spend a while thinking of a way to continue the story haha! So if you don't like the ending when it comes, I hope you can forgive me! Oh and the yaoi situation will remain subtle, I just don't think In the future I may do another story that will be better, although I am hoping to do a Supernatural one after this, so it may be a while before FMA comes back! **

**I hope that you will all enjoy this chapter though! Let me know what you think! If you need to criticise, then feel free, I won't cry too much :P Ciao for now!**

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**"So…. If it truly is this Envy person, how do we stop him?" Hughes asked, slightly bewildered by everything the Elrics had told him.

"Well….that's the complicated part. When Father created the homunculi, he used small Philosopher's stone, rendering them invincible. The only way to destroy a homunculus is to remove the stone. Meaning we would have to get close enough to Envy and find the stone within his body without him trying to kill us." Ed explained. "And we don't know whether or not coming back from the dead will make him stronger…"

"But you have killed him once before. And surely he won't have a stone anymore…. Maybe he is effectively mortal?" Roy suggested.

"If he was mortal he wouldn't be able to change form. I am guessing that when he came back he found the stone I used to get Al's body back. I just left the stone behind. I didn't need it anymore and the homunculi were dead so I thought it wouldn't be a problem. I know I should have been more careful, but it wasn't really all that high on my priorities list!"

"So effectively you are saying that we are screwed?" Roy sighed.

"Not necessarily," Al chimed in. "If we work together and formulate a plan, we might be able to detain him long enough for someone to extract the stone. Of course, if it really is Envy…."

"Yeah, and we would need to know it definitely was him before killing a human." Ed sulked. "We need to trap him somehow…"

"Well Ed, in our vision he was going to attack HQ? Maybe we could, I don't know, make some sort of news report to force him to come…"

"No Al, HQ is not an option. I am not letting you and Hughes get blown up on the off chance that Envy might turn up. It's me he wants, so I have to somehow convince him to meet me."

"But he could kill you!" Al protested.

"Yeah and if we go with your plan he will definitely kill you! I am NOT losing you again Alphonse!"

"Just as the three of us are not going to let you go off on some suicide mission!" Roy pointed out.

"It's not a suicide mission! We will plan it and you guys will be my back up, but I need to meet him alone first. He won't kill me straight away, he has an ego bigger than yours Roy and I am sure he will want to 'hurt' me in some way. Plenty of time for you guys to sneak up on him."

"Wow Ed, you have really thought this through." Roy said sarcastically.

"Give me a break! It will take some time to come up with an appropriate plan!"

"Well we need to think of one soon," Hughes piped in. "I can't avoid HQ, being a Brigadeer General."

"Can't you take a few days off? Claim you are sick or something? I just need some more time Hughes, and if HQ gets attacked before I can do anything… well… it wouldn't be fair on Alicia!" Ed knew this was a low blow, but he didn't want Hughes or Al anywhere near HQ. Hell, he didn't want Roy there either, and he was sure to let the Colonel know.

"All right Ed, I'll take a couple of days off, but no more!"

"Thanks Hughes. And Roy, you take some leave too. You may not have been killed in my vision, but the future can be changed."

"Only if you stay away as well."

"I will." Ed wasn't entirely sure if he could keep that promise; he would do whatever it took to get Envy. If, in fact, this truly was Envy; but Ed had to admit, it would make a lot of sense if it was.

"So… guess we aren't going to get any sleep tonight?" Al groaned.

"I have to get back home I'm afraid, need to convince Gracia I am sick!" Hughes chirped, oddly happy at the thought of feigning illness. "But call me as soon as you think of something or need any help. Later guys!" And with that Hughes left Roy's house.

"That bastard always finds a way to get out of hard work!" Roy grumbled. "Well, I guess it's down to us three to come up with a plan!"

xxx

Roy, Ed and Al did not sleep that night, or the following night. However, they finally managed to formulate a plan. Roy would make a statement to the press about Trinity, and read out an "anonymous" letter that they may believe is connected somehow. To most it would make no sense, but Ed knows that if Envy is truly behind Trinity, then he would understand. If this succeeded, Ed would meet Envy and destroy him for good.

"You know Ed, this message isn't very subtle. 'Dear E, if you wish to find me, then come to the place where your father once lay at midnight on Friday. Pipsqueak.' You would be just as well holding up a big banner saying 'Hey Envy it's Edward Elric come and kill me!' Actually Ed, it's quite pathetic…"

"Oh shut up Roy. It needs to be obvious enough for Envy to figure it out. I want to trap him, not confuse him!"

"'To the place where your father once lay.' Could it get any cheesier?"

"Would you rather I wrote 'to your secret homunculus lair'? Because that would be so much better!"

"Oh for goodness sake would you two stop bickering!" Al yelled. "It's like living with an old married couple!"

Instead of the complaints Al expected, both men turned bright red and made spluttering noises.

"Wait… when did you guys get married? And Ed, why didn't you invite your own brother?"

"Al, just….. just shut up!"

"Wow, great comeback brother…"

"Look this is serious! We are supposed to be trapping Envy not discussing the relationship between Roy and I!"

"Oh so there IS a relationship!"

"No! I mean… we are friends, like a friend relationship, not anything else!"

"Ha, I love it when you get embarrassed and lose all ability to speak properly!"

Ed was practically fuming.

"Look can we just get back to the plan?" Roy jumped in before Ed could murder his younger sibling, plus saving himself from his own embarrassment.

"Sorry Colonel. But we are exhausted, and we don't need to start anything until tomorrow morning when you make the speech. Can't we just leave it for tonight? Chill for a bit and get some rest?"

"We need to make sure we know everything!"

"Brother, you wrote everything down in immense detail. Hughes was over not that long ago and he was very well informed. We know what we are doing. Besides, how can we possibly succeed if we are tired, we need to be on full alert when Friday comes!"

"Fine Al, you win. We rest. But we don't discuss anything that may or may not be going on between Roy and I. Clear?"

"Loud and clear brother. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"So, something may be going on…" Before Al could finish, Ed was already on top of him, and the brothers settled into a friendly wrestling match (well friendly from Al's point of view anyway), as Roy happily watched the brothers relaxing a little.


	14. Chapter 14 The Conference

**Hey guys! Nearing the end of my story now, just a few more chapters to write! Hopefully I can get them done within the next couple of weeks! Hope you all enjoy this chapter (apologies if there is any bad grammar I am quite tired today). Much love!**

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"Matthew!" Mildred yelled at her dazed friend. "Can you PLEASE pay attention? We need to figure out this alchemy if we are going to succeed with blowing up Central HQ!"

"Sorry Mil," Matthew sighed. "Just a little tired…"

Mildred sighed. "Well in that case you are no use to me today. Go home and get some rest and report back to me at 0800 hours tomorrow, understand?"

"Yes ma'am. Sorry for the inconvenience." And with that Matthew left HQ and made his way home.

Before Matthew had joined Trinity, he had just completed medical school. He had always dreamed of becoming a doctor, but the only available jobs were within military hospitals. His involvement with Trinity meant that working for the military would not have been an option. This had given him second thoughts about his involvement with Trinity; after all, he didn't have a real problem with the military and was in fact agnostic. His brother Johan, however, never allowed Matthew to have a life of his own, so whatever Johan wanted was what Matthew had to want.

However, Johan was the least of his worries at this point. Ever since Father Alistair asked him to dispose of Joshua's body, he was troubled. As a medical student, he encountered many corpses and was taught how to determine cause of death. He decided to examine Joshua's body (out of curiosity as he had explained to Johan, who was trying to find a place to bury the body) and he found that his neck was broken. He also noticed that there was a lack of blood clotting around the facial wounds where Father Alistair claimed to have struck Joshua in "self-defence", implying that these wounds had in fact been inflicted post mortem. This was a total contradiction to the Father's story; add this to the fact that the Father did not appear to have any injuries from the so-called attack, and it would appear that Alistair was lying. Matthew therefore had to wonder why Joshua had been killed, and why the Father would lie about it. _Was Joshua really a traitor? _Matthew thought. _He had always seemed genuine to me, and I am usually a good judge of character. Something isn't right – what is Father Alistair hiding? Maybe I should keep a close eye on him…_

xxx

The following morning, Mildred ran into Father Alistair's office.

"Father! Forgive the intrusion, but it appears the military are giving a press conference in an hour and have a message for us!"

"Well, this certainly is an interesting turn of events! You must attend and let me know what happens. But, before you go, please inform the others that I have not to be disturbed for the next three hours. I have some private business to attend to…"

"Of course Father! But, what about the assignment?"

"That can wait for another couple of weeks. We have plenty of time. It might be best to wait to see what the military have to say, we may not need to blow up their base after all."

"As you wish Father!" The young woman bolted out of the office, slamming the door behind her.

Envy walked up to the door and locked it soon after Mildred had left.

"As if I would trust any of you idiots to take in every detail of that meeting. If you want something done properly, then it's best to do it yourself. Let us see what the military has to say. Maybe the pipsqueak will be around…" Envy laughed to himself and transformed into a crow and flew out of the open window.

xxx

"So Mr Mustang, what exactly do this Trinity want? How many more soldiers have to die before you will do something about it?" Cried a young, overly-enthusiastic reporter.

"Well Sir, this is our problem. They continue to wreak havoc throughout Amestris, claiming to do the work of God, but they have made no clear demands. It is obvious they have severe personal issues with the military, but we cannot understand what these are. Although, I would like to point out, that even if we had more information as to their motivations, it is not within our policy to negotiate with terrorists. At the present time, we would like to assure the public that we do not believe that ordinary citizens are under any threats, but I will always advise anyone to exercise precaution. Now on a different matter, we have received an anonymous letter and it has been requested that we read this out as a way to communicate with Trinity. We do not believe that the individual works with Trinity, but is in fact against their actions. This is the message:

_Dear E, if you wish to find me, then come to the place where your father once lay at midnight on Friday. Pipsqueak._

We do not know if this is some sort of code, or even a hoax, but by reading this out we hope that the writer will decide to come forward and reveal any information they have about Trinity. We do not encourage vigilantism, so I implore you, do not try anything stupid! That is all we have for now, thanks very much."

Roy turned away from the crowd and walked over to Ed, who was leaning against a pillar.

"Well, I hope that you are right about this, Ed. Did you see this Envy character?"

"He's a shapeshifter remember, he could have been anyone. I know that someone from Trinity was here, so I am sure the message will reach him one way or another."

"How do you know?"

"Remember the purple-eyed brunette from my vision? Well, she was there."

"Why didn't you say something Ed? We could have had her arrested –"

"On what charge? 'Excuse me miss, I must arrest you for killing someone in my colleague's dream?' That won't exactly stand up in any court."

"Fair point. I guess all we can do is wait."

xxx

_Subtle Elric, subtle, _thought Envy. _Guess you ain't as stupid as I made you out to be. So, you want to meet me? Well you got it Pipsqueak, and you are going to DIE. _


	15. Chapter 15 Friday arrives

**Hey guys, I'm back! So close to the end now, just a couple more chapters to go! Sorry that it's another fairly short chapter, but I can only fit in short amounts of time to write chapters so I decided instead of stopping halfway through one chapter I would just make it a short chapter to keep you all occupied :P **

**I hope you enjoy, a nice bit of brotherly love for a change :P **

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Friday morning had arrived, and Al was pulled from his slumber by the dawn chorus. The sound that he had once loved was now the sound he had been dreading. It meant that Friday was here, that Ed would meet Envy. Having encountered Envy once before he knew how dangerous the homunculus could be. There was always a chance no one would turn up, that it truly was just a psychotic priest, but since when has things ever been so simple for the Elrics? Their father left; their mother died; Ed lost his limbs while Al lost his body in an attempt to resurrect her; Ed and Al get hunted by homunculi while searching for the stone; Ed doesn't get his body back; Ed starts to have death visions. Naturally the next step would be to encounter a deadly arch nemesis.

With a sigh, Al climbed out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He was about to enter when he noticed movement from his brother's bedroom. _Ed never gets up this early, _Al thought, slightly concerned. He tip-toed to Ed's room and peered through the door which had been left slightly ajar; Ed was indeed awake, and struggling to attach his automail leg. He seemed more frustrated and tense than he usually is in the morning, but Al knew his brother was actually scared. So he tapped gently on the door and made his way in. "Morning brother!" he chirped. "You're up early! Oh do you want a hand with that?"

"Hey Al. A hand would be great, the thing is being stubborn this morning." Ed laughed, but it was obviously forced.

"Did you sleep much last night?" Al asked as he attached Ed's leg.

"A little, but the leg was bothering me. Hence why I removed the automail."

"Just your leg that was bothering you?" Ed didn't respond. "I thought so. Look it's OK to be scared…"

"I'm not scared!" Ed yelled unintentionally. "I've confronted danger before, it's second nature." He said in a quieter voice.

"Spare me the macho talk Ed, you're my big brother and I know you better than anyone. I can tell when you're scared."

"I shouldn't be…" Ed mumbled.

"Why?" Al finished fixing Ed's leg and sat next to him.

"It makes me feel weak. When mother was on her death bed, she made me promise that I would be strong, that I would take care of you no matter what. Being scared isn't strong, it's like I'm breaking that promise –"

"Woah, time out brother! Let us just consider the facts: all you have ever done is look out for me. When you were obviously hurting you never once let it show; those times when you needed to 'get some air', I knew you were upset but would never dare to cry in front of me. You became a dog of the military, fought some of the most evil beings known to man, just to return my soul to my body. You are stronger than anyone I know! Being afraid is not a sign of weakness – it's called being human. If meeting Envy tonight didn't scare you that would worry me more! And for the record, mother would be so proud of you, you did everything she asked and more."

"Do you really think so?"

"I KNOW so."

For the first time in a while, Ed smiled. "Thanks Al." He rested his head on Al's shoulder and groaned. "Man, I HATE mornings!" Al laughed and hugged his brother.

"You are just a lazy ass! Now get dressed, I'll be down soon to make breakfast."

"YES SIR!" Ed cried and gave a mock salute. Al merely responded by showing Ed a raised middle digit.

xxx

"So do you reckon this Envy will turn up?" Hughes asked. "Even if he is the one, your message was a bit confusing Ed."

"How so?"

"You said Friday at midnight. I mean, technically, midnight last night was the start of Friday; midnight tonight will be Saturday. What if he turned up yesterday?"

"Hughes, I very much doubt that he thought about it in that way. That's too confusing and logical."

"And even if Envy had considered that, he knew our little Edward here wouldn't have been clever enough to consider that." Roy teased.

"Why you –" Ed was about to pounce on the Colonel, had it not been for Al restraining him.

"Save your energy brother!"

"Don't worry Ed, I'll sort him out." Hughes smirked and promptly smacked Roy across the head.

"OW! All right already! I was just trying to lighten the mood!"

"I know I am the youngest," Al interrupted, "but can you three stop acting like children? Now have we got everything? Roy, gloves?"

"Never go anywhere without them."

"Hughes, knives?"

"CHECK!"

Al cringed at the volume of Hughes' voice. "Great. How about you Ed, are you sorted?"

"Yeah. Just to confirm, the signal is 'screw you Envy!'; when I yell that, you guys come along and do your thing."

"Do our 'thing'? 'Screw you Envy'? Have you been possessed by an idiot?"

"Roy, for once, just shut it. Is everyone clear on the signal and what you need to do?"

"Yes." The three men replied in unison.

"Good. Well it's 9.30, we should get there in plenty of time for you guys to get into position."


	16. Chapter 16 The Final Battle

**Hi everyone! So I have finally been able to finish this story! Sorry it took so long, but I have just finished my undergraduate degree and madly applying for masters courses so I kind of forgot about this. But everything has been sorted, so I can now add my final two chapters. Thanks you for your patience!**

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Everyone in Trinity had grown more and more impatient. They had finally figured out a perfect way to blow up Central HQ, yet Father Alistair had refused to do anything about it. "It isn't time," he kept saying, but he never gave any indication as to when it would be time. He spent most of his time in his office, shutting out all of his followers.

"You know," one of the men muttered, "I am starting to wonder if the good Father has lost interest. Or maybe this kid is giving him trouble. Maybe we should just go ahead with the plan anyway…" Before he could continue, Mildred slapped him.

"How DARE you question our Father's intentions! If he doesn't want to act now, then he must have a good reason! That 'kid' you are referring to happens to be one of the most powerful alchemists in the world! Of course, Father Alistair is the best there is, but the Elric boy can still create problems. Before we can destroy the military forever, then he must be eliminated, and the Father is trying to figure out how to do that. We must be patient – everything he does is for us, you selfish bastard!"

"Y-yes Ma'am…" the man stammered, "I – I didn't mean to cause offence!" He bowed his head, afraid of another strike from the young woman.

"What is going on here, there is a lot of yelling!" No one had noticed Father Alistair come out of his office.

"Oh, nothing Father!" Mildred exclaimed, "It's just that some of these idiots don't know how to be patient!"

"Ah, don't fret child, it just shows that they are enthusiastic about our cause. My friends, we will act soon, I just have some issues I need to take care of first."

"You mean the Elric kid?" asked Johan.

"Quite Johan. If he is involved with the military investigations, then I fear we could be caught. We must get him out of the way before we continue with our plans. It is getting late now, I suggest we all go home and meet up again early tomorrow."

"All right Father. You heard him men, go home!" Mildred yelled. The men hastily filed out of the lair and went their separate ways. "Well, good night Father!"

"Good night Mildred." Mildred followed the men out, leaving the Father alone.

"Idiots," Envy muttered. "Well, guess I should get ready to meet Elric."

xxx

"Matthew!" Johan screamed at his brother. "Are you coming or not?"

"Um… well… I quite fancy a walk to be perfectly honest brother. It was so hot and stuffy back there; I could use the fresh air."

"It's 11 o'clock man! We need to be back early tomorrow morning."

"I know Johan, I won't be too long."

"You better not be. I'll see you later." Johan stormed off, annoyed that his brother wanted to wander off at this time of night. It meant that he couldn't keep an eye on him.

Once Johan had disappeared out of sight, Matthew made his way back to the lair. Ever since his examination of Joshua's corpse, Matthew had made sure to watch Father Alistair as often as he could. Unfortunately, Johan had been keeping an annoyingly close eye on Matthew recently, as though his suspicions were obvious. Tonight was the first time that Matthew had the freedom to spy on Alistair at night, after the others had gone home. He didn't really know what to expect – the Father spent most of his the office, not really venturing out into the open. But Matthew had a gut feeling that something wasn't quite right about the good priest.

Just as Matthew reached the lair, he heard the door opening, so he quickly dived behind a bush so as not to be seen. To Matthew's surprise, Father Alistair was leaving the protection of their hideout and wandering the streets in full view. It was as though he had completely forgotten his concern about getting caught by the military. _Father Alistair is usually so much more careful, _thought Matthew, _what on Earth is he doing? Maybe I should follow him… _As soon as Alistair was far enough away so that Matthew would not be heard, he carefully followed the priest to the unknown destination.

xxx

_23.55, Friday night._

Ed nervously paced around the underground cavern. He thought of the many battles with Father and the homunculi a couple of years ago and started to wish that Envy wasn't involved. He had been left with horrific scars from those battles – both physical and emotional – and he struggled to prevail in the end. Envy was a particularly powerful homunculi and Ed knew that one wrong move in any fight with Envy would kill him.

_Ah stop it Ed, focus! _Ed scolded himself. Despite his fears, he had to see this through. If Envy wasn't the culprit, then he was wasting valuable time waiting in this cavern and the real priest would be plotting his next attack. Ed didn't want to sound cocky, but facing Envy now is probably the best chance the military had. Stopping Envy would mean the end of Trinity, and the only person with a vague chance of doing that is Ed. Al would probably be just as good, but Ed refused to let his little brother endanger himself after everything that has happened. If Ed had full control over the situation, Al would be back in Resembool with Winry and as far away from this mess as possible. But Al was annoyingly stubborn and refused to let Ed be overly protective, so he had to learn to deal with that.

"Well hi there Pipsqueak, I hope I am not disturbing your happy thoughts!" Envy's voice bellowed through the cavern.

Startled, Ed spun around and faced his nemesis.

"Envy," Ed growled. "So it is you. And don't worry, my happy thoughts of destroying you should become reality in a few minutes."

Envy chuckled. "Ha! Someone is a little over confident! A midget alchemist versus an invincible homunculi? I like those odds!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING…. Em, I mean, I beat you once before Envy, and I can do it again!"

"Ah, I confess, I was a little careless last time. I underestimated your abilities. You are irritatingly powerful. But this time, I am ready."

Before Ed could respond, Envy ran at him and punched him hard in the stomach, sending him flying into a stone wall.

"HAHAHA! Oh come on Metal Head, you could have at least put up a bit of a fight!"  
"Ungh… you caught me off guard." Ed got up slowly, clutching is stomach and trying to ignore the throbbing in his head from hitting the wall. As Envy laughed hysterically, Ed clapped his hands together and placed his palms on the ground, sending a surge of energy through the cavern floor, breaking apart the stone; the ground then rose in the shape of a large stone fist (Ed's trademark), successfully colliding with the arrogant homunculi and crushing him against the ceiling.

"You could have put up a fight Envy!" mocked Ed.

"Stupid pint-sized dick," muttered the squashed Envy as he tried to break free from the stone tomb Ed had created.

"Let's stop being cute Envy. What exactly is your game with Trinity? Clearly it has nothing to do with God, as I doubt you would consider anyone as a bigger authority than your smug self. And why risk associating yourself with the other members? I thought you always work alone, and…"

_CRASH! _Ed was interrupted by the collapse of his rock tower and a rather frustrated homunculi falling next to him. Ed jumped back to avoid any falling debris, including Envy.

"Damn you Elric! Anyway, you are quite correct that my association with Trinity has nothing to do with God. I only used God as an excuse to get those pitiful humans to do my bidding. I couldn't very well blow up military bases on my own whilst keeping an eye on the goings on at Central, including what you, your armourless sibling and the idiotic Colonel and resurrected friend were up to. I hate to admit that I needed a little bit of help. Besides, it took you a long time to figure out my involvement, so I guess it was worth it."

"I still don't get your game. What good will come from murdering the military?"

"Huh, guess you aren't as smart as you look. Power, to put it simply. Without the military, who will be around to stop me taking over Amestris? And before you say 'oh me Mr Envy Sir', I plan to kill you first. People will have to start taking orders from me, and I can finally carry out Father's work."

"What makes you think that you can kill me so easily?"

Envy walked up to Ed and grabbed him by the throat, applying so much pressure that Ed was struggling to breathe.

"Well that was easy, Fullmetal ass!"

"Uh…*gasp*… SCREW… *cough*… SCREW YOU ENVY!"

xxx

Al watched his brother waiting nervously for Envy to turn up and wanted nothing more than to be standing by his side. Ed had spent his entire life protecting Al, so it was about time Al did the same for his brother. But he knew Ed would never let that happen, he was too damn stubborn. So Al had to grudgingly sit back and watch from a distance.

"Well hi there Pipsqueak, I hope I am not disturbing your happy thoughts!"

Al turned to look at Hughes and Mustang, and they all nodded in understanding. Envy had indeed arrived, but none of them could do anything until Ed gave the signal. They watched as Ed and Envy argued, unsure as to what would happen. Then, out of the blue, they saw Envy run towards Ed and send him flying backwards. Roy had to cover Al's mouth to stop him from crying out, and hold him so that he didn't run to help his brother. Angrily, Al fought against him and finally broke free.

"What are you doing?" he whispered. "Didn't you see what just happened? Ed needs help!"

"And don't YOU remember Ed's instructions? We have to stay here and not move until Ed gives the signal, no matter what. I don't like this either Al, but we have to be patient – one wrong move and we could risk Ed's life!"

Before Al could whisper back, he heard a loud bang. Fearing the worst, he looked back, but gave a quiet sigh of relief as he saw that Envy had been crushed by one of Ed's rock monuments. He tried not to laugh as he saw the pathetic creature flailing his arms about trying to break free, as Ed taunted him. _Go Ed! _Al thought. Hughes and Roy couldn't help smiling at the sight either. Ed was one tough cookie.

They listened as Envy described his true intentions. Al almost felt sorry for the other members of Trinity for the way Envy used him, but his sympathy disappeared when he thought about the fact that they had murdered so many innocent people for their cause. At least Envy had the excuse that he was a soulless monster – no one would ever expect him to value human life, not being human himself. But these people were human, and supposedly followers of a religion which promotes love for your fellow man. In a weird way, Al felt that this made them worse than Envy.

Al's thoughts were interrupted by his brother's voice. "SCREW YOU ENVY!" _The signal!_

"Hey Envy! Get your filthy hands off my brother!" Al yelled.

Envy looked up to try and find where the voice was coming from, and this distraction gave Ed the opportunity to kick out to force him back. Envy's grip on Ed slipped and Ed dived to the floor, yelling "Now Hughes!"

Almost immediately, a knife had embedded itself into Envy's face. He tried to locate his attacker, but Hughes was too fast. He threw the knives at lightning speed, with incredible accuracy. As Envy was struck, Al ran to Ed to help him up, and the brothers ran towards the confused homunculi.

"Roy, flame!" As soon as Envy was forced back against the wall of the cavern due to the blows from Hughes' blades, Roy clicked his fingers and contained the homunculus and the two alchemists within a wall of fire, to prevent an escape attempt by Envy. Hughes ran out of knives, so he doubled back to join his colleague, leaving the two brothers to finish off the homunculus.

"I hope this works Roy."

"Me too Maes."

"Argh! You irritating bastards!" cried Envy. "Well Elrics, your friend's barrier may hinder my escape, but it doesn't save you!"

"Don't count on that Envy!" Al yelled, clapping his hands and transmuting the ground into a concrete tomb, surrounding Envy's legs. Meanwhile, Ed transmuted his automail arm into a long blade, and once Envy was trapped, he stabbed him in the heart and reached for the stone. Fortunately, he found the internal stone and pulled it out, throwing it out of the ring of fire towards Roy, who promptly shot it. The stone disintegrated into a pile of dust.

"Ungh…. You…. Dick…." Envy gargled as blood spilled out of his mouth. The homunculus was dying.

"You lose Envy. Enjoy Hell." Ed smirked at the homunculus as he crumbled to the ground.

"Not yet, Pipsqueak." With his final ounce of strength, Envy lunged towards Ed and thrust one of Hughes' knife into Ed's stomach; he finally fell to the floor and decomposed into a disgusting pile of mush within a matter of seconds.

"NO! BROTHER!" Al screamed and ran towards Ed, who was clutching his stomach to try and stop the bleeding.

After hearing Al's terrified scream, Roy brought down the flaming barrier and he and Hughes ran towards the brothers. "Oh no… please no…" Roy gasped as the young alchemist fell forward into his brother's arms, blood spilling from his wound.

Hughes to stay composed. "Al, let me see his wound. We have to try and stop the bleeding." He removed his blue jacket and then his shirt, and swiftly making a makeshift bandage. "Roy, run to the car and call for help. Now Roy!"

Roy was in shock and it took a while to hear Hughes. "Er, right Maes I'm going!" and the Colonel left the cavern.

Al was holding his brother, who was struggling to stay conscious. "Come on Ed, just breathe. Please don't give up brother, stay with me!"

"S-sorry Al," Ed gasped. "But at least… at least we stopped Envy, right? Take care of Winry. Live life to the full, and remember that I love you. And tell Roy… Thanks, bastard." Ed gave one final chuckle and allowed himself to be consumed by the darkness.


	17. Chapter 17 Epilogue

Ed slowly opened his eyes, struggling to open them fully due to the blaring lights. He looked at his surroundings. Every wall was white, and even the floor and ceiling was white. He was lying on a bed, and there were strange machines next to him, one of which he was attached to. He spotted a young woman looking at the machine, and then scribbling some notes.

"Hey," Ed croaked, slightly taken aback by how horrible his voice sounded. "Where am I? Is this… heaven?"

The young woman giggled. "No no, Mr Elric. You're in the military hospital at Central."

"Huh? But – I died –"

"Well it seems not Mr Elric. That wonderful Brigadeer General was able to plug the wound, buying you enough time before our surgeons could stitch you up. You had a lucky escape. Now lie back young man, while I fetch the doctor. You have been out for a few days!" The woman quickly left the room, leaving a rather stunned Ed.

A few minutes later, an older man in a white coat entered the room carrying a clipboard, followed by the woman from before. "Nurse Smith," he barked, "please contact Colonel Mustang and inform him that Major Elric has decided to grace us with his presence. But first find that brother of his and that young lady with the spanner. Hopefully when they see that young Edward is awake they might leave this place and stop hassling our staff."

"Yes doctor," the nurse bowed her head and left the room almost as soon as she entered.

"Al's here?" Ed asked the rather intimidating doctor.

"Yes Major. And he is quite the nuisance! I am not sure he, or his girlfriend, realise that I have other patients to worry about as well. He expects me to drop everything and sit by your bed 24/7 until you wake up. It's a relief that you are awake now, I don't know how much more of that I could take! I wanted to throw them out, but that damned Colonel insisted they stay. Such stress."

Ed couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry about that, but that's Al for you!"

Suddenly, a loud voice could be heard from the hall. "Dr Bartholemew! Is it true? Is he awake?"

The doctor sighed. "Yes Alphonse, he is."

Al ran into the room with a large grin on his face, followed by Winry. "Brother! You are awake! It's good to see you!"

"You too Al! And you Winry!" Ed smiled as Winry approached him. He assumed she was coming to hug him, to go on about how relieved she was that he was OK, so he sat up in preparation. But much to his surprise, the young mechanic turned angry and smacked him in the head with the spanner.

"OW! What the Hell?" Ed screamed in pain.

"You bastard Edward Elric! Do you know how worried we have all been? First you speak to Al as though you were about to die, and then you don't wake up for about a week! You are so selfish!"

"Hey, it's not like I meant it! I genuinely thought I was about to die! In fact until that nurse told me what had happened I thought I was dead, in Heaven or something! I didn't stay unconscious intentionally you psycho!"

"Stop it, the pair of you!" Dr Bartholemew yelled. "I am ashamed of you young lady! He has just recovered from a rather severe stabbing, not to mention saving the lives of several military personnel after breaking down Trinity. I do not condone putting any of my patients under unnecessary stress whilst they remain in hospital! And Mr Elric, please keep your voice down, you are not the only one in this hospital!"

"Sorry sir," the two youngsters muttered in unison, glaring angrily at each othe.

Al had to laugh. "Haha, still the same old Ed I see!" He jumped on to his brother's bed and gave him a hug. "In all seriousness though, I am so glad you are OK. As Winry said, we have all been really worried. I really thought I'd lost you in that cave, but Mr Hughes was brilliant! He saved your life."

"Thanks Al. I'll have to thank Hughes when I see him as well. I am sorry for making everyone worry, but like I say, it wasn't intentional…"

"We know Ed. And so does Winry. Right Winry?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Sorry Ed. I just didn't know how to react. I thought you were… well… you know…" Winry paused and looked away, both embarrassed at her outburst and a little upset at the memory of that phone call from Al. Despite their arguments, she and Ed were best friends, the thought of losing him was just unbearable.

"It's fine Winry. Just – please refrain from attacking me with that thing in future. Anyway, what happened with Trinity? Have they really stopped?"

"Ahem, before you three start discussing business, I really must take a look at you Ed. You have just regained consciousness. I need to check your vitals."

"All right Doc, but I honestly feel fine now!" Well, that was a bit of a lie – Ed's stomach still hurt like hell, and his head was throbbing after Winry's attack. His muscles ached in general and his automail didn't feel right – although he wouldn't mention that to Winry until the spanner was out of reach. He lay back onto the bed and Al moved out of the doctor's way.

After several minutes of poking and prodding, the doctor had finished his examination. "Well Edward, you are certainly in good shape considering your injuries. In fact, I think I only need to keep you here for a couple more days for observation. You have made a pretty fast recovery, it seems the rest did wonders for you! I will of course set up a range of pain medication – don't look at me like that, I have enough experience in this job to know when a patient is in pain, especially when for some reason they wish to keep it a secret. Anyway, I will give you three some space, I have other patients to deal with."

"Thanks doc," Ed groaned – he really hated being examined, especially with an audience. The doctor nodded and left the ward.

"So Al, tell me what happened."

"Well, after you passed out, this man came running towards us, saying he was a doctor and could help. But of course, we didn't trust him, so Mr Mustang kept him away. Turns out he was in Trinity, but he claims he wasn't directly involved with any of the murders. He says his brother forced him to join and he couldn't work as a doctor. He had been suspicious of the priest after he had murdered another member of Trinity, so he followed him to the cave. He saw everything that happened, and he agreed to give the military the names and addresses of everyone in Trinity, plus the location of their lair. He was very apologetic, and wanted to do everything he could to help. I felt a little sorry for him to be honest. Mr Mustang told me of how his brother bullied him into working for a group he hated. Anyway, once you were in hospital, Mr Hughes and Mr Mustang organised a raid, and captured every member of Trinity. They are all locked up in prison now, and a little shocked after discovering the true nature of their leader."

"What about the man, the doctor? I mean, he did work with Trinity and should be punished for that, but he did help us…"

"He was arrested as soon as he gave himself up – I mean, he may not have carried out any murders but he didn't do anything to stop them. The military agreed, however, to show some leniency as he did give up the identity of the other members. I heard he now helps out in the prison hospital, and he will probably continue to work there once his sentence is over."

"That's good then." Ed nodded as though in thought.

"Honestly you two, why are you sticking up for him, he is a terrorist!"

"I know Winry, but he didn't actually hurt anyone. He just happened to have a horrid brother."

"Glad we get on, Ed!" Al laughed.

"Well, most of the time Al. I have to say your choice in women does disappoint me slightly…" Ed managed to duck in time before Winry was able to strike another blow to his head. "I'm just kidding Winry! Honestly, I don't think Al could have picked a better person to be his girlfried." Ed gave her a look that made her melt. _Damn Elrics and their puppy eyes! _

"Aww! Thanks Ed!" Finally, Winry gave Ed that long awaited hug, and the three began to reminisce about the wonderful moments of their childhood.

xxx

The next couple of days went by incredibly slowly as far as Ed was concerned. A few hours after he had first woken up, he managed to persuade Al and Winry to go back to their hotel to get some sleep (and frankly, to have a shower) and not return until the following afternoon. That evening, Roy had come to visit along with the team and Hughes. All congratulated Ed on destroying Envy and stopping Trinity, and he was offered substantial time off to relax back in Resembool. The following morning, Hughes came back with Gracia and Alicia in tow, and the three chatted for a good few hours. Ed had made sure to thank Hughes several times for saving his life, successfully annoying Hughes as much as Hughes had annoyed Ed with his ramblings about his daughter. Ed was secretly pleased with himself for this revenge, although he was genuinely grateful for everything Hughes had done throughout this whole affair. Al and Winry came for a short visit after the Hugheses left, but once Dr Bartholemew had agreed to discharge Ed the next morning, they decided to get Ed's apartment ready. He spent the rest of the night alone, but was happy for the peace and quiet.

Ed was getting dressed the morning of his discharge, when someone barged into his room.

"Hey! I'm trying to get dressed!"

"Argh! Gross! A naked Ed! Someone pass me a sick bowl!" mocked Roy as he wandered into the room.

"Very funny. I look far better than you, even with metal limbs!"

"Ah you're probably right." Roy conceded, which made Ed feel a little awkward. _Does that mean he thinks I'm good looking?_

"Oh for goodness sake Ed, I thought we were passed the childish awkwardness. Your hot, accept it. Oh don't look so shocked, you know I have preferences for men, and I happen to own eyes. Deal with it. And frankly, you're about as transparent as a piece of glass; I think you have similar feelings for moi."

Ed turned bright red and stared at the floor – there was a dirty mark that had suddenly become very interesting. Roy walked over and lifted his head up to look at his face. "Thought so. Granted, it took me a while to realise my own feelings. But when you almost died that night… well… I knew then that I didn't want a life without you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So, what do you think? I like you, you like me. Let's not beat around the bush anymore. Why don't I come over tonight for a nice dinner? And don't worry, I cleared it all with your brother."

"Wait, you told Al?"

"It was his idea to be honest. Seems he knows how you feel better than you do! So, what do you think?"

"Well… OK. But on one condition!"

"Sure, name it."

"You are NOT cooking!" The two men laughed, wrapped their arms around each other and shared a rather passionate kiss.

* * *

**Well, that's it guys! Finished! I hope you all enjoyed my story! I apologise to all of my followers that it took so long to write, but I hope the wait was worth it! Sadly, I doubt I will be writing another FMA fan fic any time soon. I will probably stick to Supernatural for a while. But I had fun with this story and I will return to it one day! **


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